


In lack of hearts

by shaggingtomlinson



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: 4/5 is in one direction, Everyone else acts like parents basically, F/M, Falling In Love, Fluff, Homeless Harry, M/M, harry is a dad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-02-13
Updated: 2015-05-02
Packaged: 2018-01-12 04:08:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 24
Words: 45,212
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1181697
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shaggingtomlinson/pseuds/shaggingtomlinson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Styles was only 17 when his son Jamie was born. It was literally the best day if Harry's life. He loved his girlfriend so much and having a baby with her was one of the greatest things in Harry's life - even if that meant that his parents and his friends would hate him forever. His son ment everything to him.</p><p>But about year later something goes horribly wrong and Harry and Jamie ended up being thrown out on the streets where he - by an terrible accident - met Louis Tomlinson, one of four members of the huge boyband One Direction. </p><p>What will happen to Harry and Jamie? Will Harry be able to get a job and find a place to live? Will he get thrown back on the streets again when he recovers? Or maybe Louis Tomlinson will manage to charm Harry well enough to trust people again?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Polski available: [In Lack Of Hearts](https://archiveofourown.org/works/3839740) by [Hazzaczuwa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hazzaczuwa/pseuds/Hazzaczuwa)



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It was all a blur really; it happened so fast and he just crashed down to the ground. One minute he and his son were walking down the busy streets of London and seconds later loud screams could be heard all around him and he was on the ground with a painful headache and his son clutched to his chest. He could barely see the people around him, feet just hurrying past him, not caring that he and his little baby were on the ground and obviously in pain.

 

Wasn't anybody going to help him? Couldn't they see him? Didn't they care? If they didn't want to help him, they could at least help his baby boy. He could hear him crying, but he was in too much pain to do anything about it. He wanted so badly to help, but things were starting to go black; his vision disappearing with every seconds passing. He wanted to scream, wanted to be mad, wanted them to just help his son.  It was last thing he hoped someone would do before his eyes couldn't keep themselves open any longer and everything went black. 

 

People may be wondering why a young boy like him was walking around in London with a child in the middle of the day. Shouldn't he be at uni studying to get a degree? Shouldn't that little boy be in day-care or with his mum? He couldn't be older than 18, right?

 

Harry should and the boy should, but almost two years prior to this Harry Styles' son Jamie Styles was born and his life changed drastically.

 

He wasn't sure what happened really, he’d  _thought_ they had been careful. Apparently not careful enough though, because only two months into dating his girlfriend she came to him crying and told him she was pregnant. 

 

He had freaked out of course, who wouldn't when you weren't expecting it at all? But he didn't want to just  _get rid of it._ This was his child and he would take the responsibility for it, no matter what it took. 

 

He was hoping that maybe his mum would understand and would help him out, but he was so utterly wrong. His mum had been so mad and so disappointed in him that she had yelled at him, thrown things at him and then finally asked him to get the hell out of her house. And so he did.

 

He moved in with his girlfriend that same day. Since she was a few years older than him, she had her own place and she was happy to take him in. He lived there for a couple of months, helping out as much as he could when he wasn't at school or at work.

 

It got even crazier though; the looks, the whispering and the gossip was just too much for the both of them to handle, so only a few months before their little boy was born they packed up their stuff and moved to London where they were hoping for a fresh start.

 

It was rough at first. Gabrielle couldn't work because she was pregnant, and no matter how many jobs Harry applied to nobody wanted to hire him, but they managed to get through and they were happy at least.

 

Then Jamie was born and it all got a little harder, Gabrielle decided that since Harry wasn't able to get a job he should just stay home with Jamie and she would go out and get a job. It worked out great that way and Harry loved it. Harry loved his son and even though he lost all his friends and family, he wouldn't give up Jamie for anything. He was Harry’s life now and that was how it was going to be for the rest of his life.

 

He thought that he'd get a job eventually so that he'd be able to support his girlfriend and his son, but at that moment he was just happy with staying at home and watching over his beautiful little boy.

 

It didn't go as he had hoped though; nothing ever went as he had hoped. He and Gabrielle started fighting almost every night which ended in him sleeping on the couch. She was mad at him for not doing anything to help them, for not getting a job (even though he had tried to, many times) and he was mad at her for coming home so late. It was all just falling apart right before his eyes. 

 

When Jamie turned a year old, they didn't have a huge birthday party like Harry had imagined that any child of his would. He had imagined that it would be lots of friends and family there; that his mum would be there to take pictures of everything and cry when Jamie (or he) blew out the candles. And when everything was over and everybody was ready to go home, she would come to him and hug him really tight. She would sniffle and Harry would hear that she was crying and she would just hold him and whisper how proud of him she was and how much she loved him and her grandchild. And then he would have to practically shove her out the door with lots of promises that he would come by with her grandchild soon and that she could come over any time she wanted.

 

It was nothing like that, not at all. In fact, it was as far from it as possible.

 

Gabrielle had to work as always, so it was only Jamie and Harry alone the whole day. He did everything he could to make this day special for his son even though he knew Jamie wouldn't remember any of it once he got older. He went out for a long walk, took him to the park to watch the ducks down by the pond, took him for ice cream and even bought him a cake that they would have once Gabrielle came home.

 

She never did. She called him later that night, after he had given up waiting for her and gotten Jamie to sleep. He had tried to call her several times, but she never answered and he was so tempted to just ignore her call and let her feel the same way he did, but he didn't.

 

She said she was sorry, that she had to work late and that it was no way that she could get out. She said she would be home as soon as she could. He only told her that it was cake in the fridge and that she could sleep on the couch that night because he was going to bed.

 

They didn't speak for at least a week and they tried to ignore each other as much as possible.

 

When they finally did start speaking to each other again, it only took two weeks before everything went to hell and Harry's life changed drastically once again, if that was even possible.

 

The day had started fine actually; Harry was happy again and his girlfriend had a day off work, so they had spent the first half of the morning just cuddling on the sofa with Jamie. She had kissed him, talked about how much everything had meant to her, how much she loved him for doing everything he had and that she loved him and Jamie very much.

 

Then she had said that she was tired and asked if Harry could just take Jamie out for a walk, just so that she could get a little bit of peace.

 

Harry thought he saw her crying, but she had walked into their room before he could even think about it and he just packed Jamie into his outerwear and into his pram to go for a walk, just like he was told to.

 

It wasn't that cold out so when they got to the park, Harry took Jamie out of the pram so that they could both sit on the grass. Jamie had barely learned to crawl, only able to just drag himself around really. They had thought something was wrong with him since he was over a year old, but the doctor said that it was completely normal. Some kids just learned those kinds of things a lot later than others.

 

They sat in the park for at least an hour, Harry just watching Jamie trying to crawl around after the little butterflies on the ground. He occasionally had to stop him from eating anything, but it all went fine. Harry felt completely relaxed and happy at that point.

 

But it didn't last for long.

 

When Jamie started showing signs that he was tired and worn out, it was time to go home. He packed Jamie back into his pram and began the fifteen minute walk to get to the flat.

 

Upon arriving there though he would just tell something was wrong. Outside the door lay Jamie's favourite teddy as well as a small bag that Harry could see without even looking contained clothes. When he tried to door it was locked and he quickly realized that his key didn't fit either. He tried knocking but he didn't get any answer. He refused to give up though, so he kept knocking and knocking until he could finally hear noises on the other side. He begged Gabrielle to just open the door and let him in so they could talk, but she refused. Instead she talked to him through the door and she was crying; Harry could hear that she did.

 

She said that she couldn't do it anymore. That it wasn't the life she wanted, she didn't want Harry and Jamie in her life anymore. She wanted a new start without the two of them.

 

Harry begged her to open and knocked on the door several times, but it didn't help and he started crying. She just told him to go away and never come back before Harry could hear their bedroom door shut.

 

He didn't walk away at first; instead he sat outside the door with Jamie in his lap and he cried. He cried and cried for what felt like hours, just hoping that maybe,  _maybe_ Gabrielle would change her mind and come out to find them. 

 

She didn't and so he eventually gave up, picked up his and Jamie’s stuff and left, leaving his entire life and everything he knew behind.

 

And that's how Harry Styles, age 18 and his son Jamie Styles, age 1, ended up on the London streets with no money, no job and no place to live.  


	2. Chapter one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I Started this before Liam and Danielle broke up, that's why she's in here. Didn't want to change that.

He couldn't see anything, but he knew that something was wrong, he could feel it. He didn't see anything, but by the look of the other boys faces they could feel it as well. They had all just been walking down the street hoping that it would be early enough on the day that all their fans would be in school and it wouldn't be too bad when they got recognized. They had been so wrong and the second they heard the screaming girls, they had all sort off grouped together a little bit tighter so that they wouldn't get hurt. They loved their fans, but they've seen how crazy many of them could get when they saw them.

 

He could see all the other people trying to run as fast as they could away from the path in front of them to avoid being run down by the girls, but there was one boy who was carrying a baby that apparently didn't catch what was happening fast enough and got caught in the middle of everything.

 

It wasn't a huge deal to him at first, he figured that he'd try to get out of there as fast as he could, but it wasn't until the girls got closer and the boy couldn't be seen that Louis panicked and knew something was wrong.

 

He tried to look around for him hoping that they would spot him somewhere and in the corner of his eyes he could see the other boys doing it as well before all of their eyes met and all of them panicked a little bit more.

 

By then the girls had all gathered around them screaming and crying and shoving cameras and pieces of paper in their faces, but all they could really focus about was where the boy they've seen had gone.

 

Louis was the first one to react and he pulled Niall with him through the girls towards the direction the had seen the boy. When he looked behind them he could see Liam and Zayn following them as well.

 

It was hard getting through all the fans who kept pushing and pulling and screaming, but he tried to ignore it as much as he could. It would probably end up on the internet and in the news the next day about how he had ignored their fans, but at that point he didn't even care. Someone was most likely hurt and that was all that mattered. If he found out that the boy were okay then he'd stop and say hi to them, but they just had to wait for now.

 

The fans however would do absolutely anything to get their attention and they seemed to just group up even more than possible each time they got passed a few people. It seemed like the crowd only got thicker and thicker the more they walked forward and he was pretty sure the could see the same faces over and over again, which probably meant that they were all running around in circles. It annoyed Louis to no end and he wished that they had called up security and a car instead of trying to walk to the grocery shop even if it was just down the corner from their flat.

 

It was the last straw from Louis though when someone slapped Niall straight in the face and the smack could be heard even over the loud screaming. Niall seemed okay though, but Louis was not okay about it at all. Was that really the way their fans thought they'd get their attention? If so, something had to change as soon as possible.

 

He stopped right where he was and took a deep breath, his plan was to nicely ask if they could all just move and leave them alone for one second, but as soon as he stopped people started clinging themselves on to him and tried to take pictures. How people could be proud of having a picture like that he had no idea, he wasn't even paying attention and he was pretty sure he didn't look happy at all.

 

The final straw however was then someone jumped on his back to try and take a picture and she kept breathing him in the ear. He did not like that at all and his plan of asking nicely just disappeared.

 

“Okay stop it! Step away from us a bit would you? There's a boy with a baby somewhere over there who might be injured because of all of you and we're really worried, so could you just all back off for a second and leave us alone?”

 

Not all of the girls had heard him and continued to scream and push trough the crowd to get to them, but the girls that stood at the front and closest to them had heard and backed off a little, pushing the ones behind them further back, leaving a clear path for the boys to walk through.

 

All four of them pressed themselves through it as fast as possible, mumbling their thanks to the ones who had heard them on their way.

 

Once they were through all of them and he could see the boy on the ground Louis started running towards him while the other boy stayed a bit further behind just to keep the fans from running after him.

 

The baby Louis had seen the boy carrying was held tight against the boy's chest and crying, obviously frightened by what happened. The boy on the ground however was unconscious and had a little puddle of blood coming from his head.

 

There where lots of people around them, but no one seemed to care one bit about the boy on the ground, they either just walked right past or stepped over him, depending on where in their path he was laying. There was something seriously wrong with people.

 

Louis knew he had to be the one doing something quickly, he didn't want the boy to die and he felt sort of guilty for what happened. He knew he didn't exactly do anything, but the fans was running to get to them. If they hadn't been there at that moment it wouldn't have happened.

 

When he saw a young lady looking down at the boy before scowling and stepping over him, like the boy was in her way and should be moving for her, Louis got angry.

 

“Oh for Christ sake people, what's wrong with you?”

 

He took the final steps towards the boy and sat down on his knees beside him, hoping that the boy was still alive. The other three boys had finally joined him around the boy and Louis figured that it was his job to tell them what to do to get this boy saved.

 

“Okay Niall, I need you to call the ambulance and get all that sorted out quickly. Liam you can try to get the baby out of his arms and try to calm him down. And Zayn I need you to help me trying to find out who he is. He's got to have an ID and a phone so we can try to call someone he knows.”

 

Neither of them hesitated when they were told what to do and as Louis and Zayn tried to go trough the boy's pockets to look for something that would help them, Liam carefully tried to pry the boy's arms from holding onto the baby. Niall's voice could be heard a few steps from them, frantically telling the ambulance where to come.

 

“Lou, do you think that maybe this boy doesn't have anywhere to go? You know I'm not usually a person to judge people by looks, but I can recognize a homeless person. He doesn't have a phone or an ID on him, his clothes are all ripped and worn out and he smells sort of bad as well. Even the baby isn't as clean as it should be.” 

 

Louis had kind of figured that out when he had put his hand down the boys pocket and only came out with a few pennies and a dummy, usually people would at least walk out of the house with something more than a few pennies. Or at least he thought so, but he could be completely wrong.

 

He could see it when he looked at the little baby as well. He had specks of dirt all over his clothes and his hair was all dirty and greasy, like it hadn't been washed in a long time. He also had a few scratches here and there on his face and head, but nothing that serious. They would have to be cleaned properly though, just in case.

 

“I think Zayn might be right Lou. I think something might be seriously wrong here.”

 

Liam had gotten the baby out of the boy's arms and was rocking him against his chest, trying to calm him down. It looked like it worked because the little boy stopped crying a few seconds later. The sirens could be heard getting closer and Louis panicked a little bit thinking about what they were going to do with the boy and the baby. He felt the sudden urge to take the responsibility for him.

 

“Do you think they'd let me go with him to the hospital? Just until they figure out someone who knows him. It would be horrible for him to wake up alone if he doesn't have anyone else.”

 

He could see Liam hesitate, probably thinking that there was no chance for Louis to come with him without being family.

 

“I don't know Louis. I mean, you can ask them and tell them how it is and then maybe they'd let you go, but don't get your hopes up. You can always drive over there after them so that you can at least be there. What do we do about this little guy though?”

 

The baby had somehow fallen asleep and was sucking his thumb and resting his head on Liam's chest. He looked safe and peaceful, like he knew that he could trust Liam even though he didn't know him.

 

“This is probably not the smartest idea, but take him home and get him fed and clean. If I get to see this guy when he wakes up, we'll take him over there to meet him okay. Don't want them to take him away from him, we don't know what their relations is yet. I'll call you when I know something, okay?”

 

The boys nodded and turned to walk away as quickly as possible just before the ambulance and police arrived from down the street. Louis was still sitting beside the boy and was holding his hand just to keep himself calm. At least the boy was still alive.

 

Only a few seconds after stopping their cars the paramedics rushed up to him and the unconscious boy. They asked him to step away a bit so they could lift the boy onto a stretcher and take him to the hospital, but Louis didn't let go of the boy's hand.

 

“Can I come with you?”

 

He followed them all the way up to the ambulance, never letting go if the boy's hand until they had to push him into the car and he had to.

 

“Are you family?”

 

He had hoped that they wouldn't ask them that and just let him go. He was far from the person to ask for special treatment just because he was famous, but in this case he had hoped that they would let him have it.

 

“No. I don't know him actually, but I was the only one who cared that he was hurt. I tried to look for any ID or a phone, but I couldn't find any. I'm just worried about him and I think that he might not have any close family or friends. I don't want him to wake up alone and be scared. Can you please just take me with you?”

 

He knew he was begging, but it was important to him. He needed to know that the boy was safe and he needed to tell the boy that the baby was okay as well.

 

“I'm sorry sir, we can't do that. But if you talk to the police first and answer their questions, I'm sure they'll drive you to the hospital when your done and you can see him. Just give me your name and I'll leave it at the front desk to let them know that you can come trough.”

 

It wasn't exactly what he wanted, but since the lady was nice enough to at least let him see him when he got to the hospital he happily gave them his name and his number just in case and watched them get in the car and drive away before he went to talk to the police.

 

\---

 

None of the other boys had any idea what to do with a baby, so when they had gotten back to the flat and laid the boy down gently on the floor on a big fluffy duvet Zayn had gotten, Liam had immediately called his girlfriend. Surely she would know what to do.

 

He didn't tell her what was wrong exactly, just that it was important and that she had to come over as soon as she could. She tried to get him to tell her what it was about and that she couldn't come over for long because she had class later that day, but Liam didn't tell and said that as long as she came over for a little bit it would be okay.

 

Around fifteen minutes later she was standing in the middle of the living room looking between the sleeping boy on the floor and the three boys who sat around him.

 

“What's going on? Who's baby is this? And where's Louis?”

 

There was a little cry coming from the boy, but it stopped and he just turned over a little bit and continued to sleep, his thumb never leaving his mouth.

 

“We don't know who's baby it is actually. There was an accident just down the street and we saw this boy got run over by our fans, so we ran over to him and helped him. He was unconscious and bleeding and the baby was clutched to his chest, so I got him loose and calmed him down until he fell asleep and we went home. And wow that sounded a lot worse out loud than it did in my head. It isn't that bad, promise. Louis' is with the boy and if he wakes up, we'll go over there with the baby. We're not keeping him or anything, we're just helping out.”

 

Danielle didn't seem amused by the story and she didn't approve of how they've done it.

 

“So you've temporarily kidnapped the baby? Couldn't you just give him over to the police or something?”

 

She was crossing her arms now, looking stern and angry about the whole thing, she didn't want to be a part of it at all.

 

“The thing is, we think that the boy might be homeless and God knows what the police would do if they took him in. We just want to protect him and give him back to his dad or brother or whatever he is as soon as we can. At least he wont lose him. It's safe this way.”

 

Danielle finally seemed to understand why they did it even though she didn't fully approve if it, but as he looked down to the boy on the floor he couldn't help but feel a strange instinct to help him as much as she could. Maybe it would make his life a little bit better than it currently was.

 

“Do you at least know his name?”

 

The three boys shook their heads no at the same time and Danielle sighed. It would be a bit harder than she thought it might have been, but she was determined to help out either way. The boys was just doing what they thought would be the best thing and so was she.

 

She made a list of all the things she needed for the boy in her head such as some new clothes, some baby food and milk, some nappies and some other necessary things a baby would need. Then she turned around to walk back out of the flat, telling the boys that she would be back as soon as possible and that they should keep the baby asleep as long as they could.  


	3. Chapter two

Once the police was done asking Louis a ton of questions about what happened and what he saw, they were kind enough to drive him to the hospital. He had answered all the questions honestly besides the part about the baby. He was sure people had seen what had happened and probably told the police about him, but the officers didn't ask so Louis didn't say anything about it. It was all about the boy in the hospital after all.

 

They had however asked a lot of questions about the injured boy, but Louis couldn't answer any of them. He didn't know his name, his parents, where he lived or anything like that at all, but he told them the truth about him possibly being homeless. Louis promised them though, that if that was the case he would do everything he could to find a proper home for him and help him out as much as he could. The police were pleased to hear that.

 

When they arrived at the hospital he thanked the kind police officer and practically ran inside the building and to the nearest reception desk. He was well aware of the people staring at him and the dirty looks they gave him, but he didn't care. He was worried and he needed to see the boy as fast as possible.

 

There was a young girl sitting behind the desk looking bored and tired, it took a few seconds for her to look up at him and she immediately recognized him even though she pretended she didn't.

 

“Hello sir, how may I help you?”

 

He could see that she was trying hard not to freak out about him being right in front of her and instead tried to be as professional as possible, it worked.

 

“Hi, I'm here to visit someone. I don't know his name, but I know he got here about an hour or so ago? The woman I was talking to when they brought him in told me that she'd leave my name at the reception so that I could come through. My name's Louis Tomlinson.”

 

He felt like there wasn't really any need for him to actually say his name since the girl obviously knew it, but he did anyway just to be sure. The girl scanned the computer in front of her and found it rather quickly.

 

“Yes, you're free to go through. Just go up to the fourth floor and down the hall. There will be a doctor there waiting for you, she wants to speak to you before you get to see the patient.

 

He only nodded and muttered a weak thank you before he was half jogging and half walking over to the lift. He pushed the button several times hoping that it would go faster if he did – it didn't.

 

When the lift finally opened and he stepped inside, he pressed the fourth floor button and waited for it to take him there, thankfully it didn't take long and he hurriedly walked down the corridor. As the receptionist had said; there was a doctor waiting with a clipboard in his hands with what Louis would assume was information about the boy.

 

“Louis Tomlinson? You're the one who wanted to see the injured boy we got in not long ago?”

 

He wrote down something else on the board and looked back up at Louis with a smile on his face.

 

“Yes, that's me. Is he okay? Have you found out who he is?”

 

His smile faded a little bit and he turned to walk away while signalling for Louis to follow him. Louis followed him into a small office.

 

“His name is Harry Styles and he's eighteen years old. We couldn't find out where he lives right now, but we did find his parents. We tried to call them, but as soon as we said his name they told us to never call again and then hung up. He woke up just a few minutes ago and I was in there to ask him some questions, but he refused to answer any of them and just kept asking about someone named Jamie. We haven't found out who that is yet. But maybe you could talk to him and see if you can get something out of him? Maybe he'll talk to someone who's about the same age as him.”

 

 _Jamie must be the baby,_ Louis thought as he nodded and followed the doctor once again to what he assumed was Harry's room.

 

“Don't force him to answer anything, we don't want him to do anything harsh. Just talk to him for a bit and maybe he'll open up.”

 

Louis nodded once again and knocked on the door once the doctor had left him alone. It only took a few seconds before a weak “come in” could be heard through the door and he slowly opened the door and carefully walked in. He didn't want to scare Harry by just bursting in.

 

Harry was lying in bed looking tired and bored, just like the lady he had met earlier. He was much paler than her though and had huge black circles under his eyes. His curly hair laid flat under the white bandages that were tightly wrapped around his head.

 

“Who are you?”

 

Louis realized that he stopped only halfway into the room and that the boy must be wondering what was wrong with him. He walked a little bit further in, but didn't dare to sit down anywhere just yet.

 

“I'm Louis Tomlinson. I saw what happened to you and I got really worried so I wanted to be sure that you were okay.”

 

Harry only kept staring at Louis, having no idea who he was or why he was here. Harry was pretty sure that he was run over by girls, so why would a boy who was older than him check on him when he didn't do anything wrong?

 

“Do you know where Jamie is?”

 

It was the only thing Harry was really interesting in knowing, no one had told him where his baby was and he was worried that something must've happened and nobody wanted to tell him about it.

 

“I'm not really sure who Jamie is to be honest, but I'm guessing that he's the little boy you were holding in your arms when you fell?”

 

Harry only nodded, his throat was dry and he didn't feel like talking that much, he just wanted to know where Jamie was. He opened his mouth to ask again anyway, but Louis beat him to it.

 

“He's okay, I promise. My three best friends took him home after we found you. We figured that it would be the best thing to do just in case someone else decided to take him and do who knows what with him. I wanted to make sure you were okay and then ask you what you wanted us to do with him. If you don't like the fact that four strangers are taking care of him that's fine, we can bring him to someone you know. His mum maybe?”

 

Harry's breath got caught in his throat at the mention of Jamie's mum and he could feel the tears trying to escape from behind his eyes. Harry wasn't sure that he wanted to share too much about his life to Louis, who was just a stranger, but he had a feeling that if he wanted Jamie to be safe he needed him to be with them and he needed to let them know just a little bit. He felt he could trust him, he just hoped the feeling was right.

 

“He doesn't have a mum. Or he does obviously, but she's not in his life so it's okay I'd like him to stay with you. I have no idea who you really are, but I have a weird feeling that I can trust you so I will. At least if he's with you I know that he'll be taken care of and that he'll have a proper bed to sleep in.”

 

Louis finally sat down on the chair that was sitting near Harry's bed and Louis had to stop and think for a second. He didn't want to insult Harry or make him mad, but even though he and the boys thought they didn't have a home, he secretly didn't want it to be true. He didn't want to think about them having to struggle on the street.

 

“What do you mean? Don't Jamie have a proper bed where you live? Where do you live anyway?”

 

He could see Harry tense up and it just pushed the thought of them not having a home even more through.

 

“He had his pram for a while, but I had to sell it to get some money so no, not really. And we lived everywhere, I guess. We never really settled in on one spot. It wouldn't be safe.”

 

Louis had more questions that he wanted to ask, but he decided against it, he didn't want to upset Harry even more. Maybe he'd get to know more another time. He basically got the answer to what he wanted to know the most about anyway.

 

“Oh, well I'll stop asking you more questions for now and just let you rest for a bit. I'm just gonna go and call one of the boys and tell them to bring Jamie over so you can see him, okay?”

 

Harry's eyes lit up at the mention of seeing Jamie and he couldn't help but smile and nod at Louis telling him that yeah, he'd really like that. Louis smiled back at him as well.

 

“I'll be right back then.”

 

\---

 

Jamie had just woken up when Danielle had gotten back from the store. She had bought nappies, clothes and various food for the little boy who was looking around confused from Liam's arms. He had no idea what was going on around him.

 

The first thing she did was to bathe the toddler and getting him into a clean nappy and fresh clothes. While he did that she ordered Liam to warm up some milk so that they could feed him once she was done.

 

The three boys were sitting around the living room while they waited for her to come back. It was unusually quiet since all of them were thinking about everything that had happened that day and how weird it had been.

 

Liam's phone broke the silence and all of the three boys jumped at the sound. Liam knew who would be calling, but he was a bit worried about what he was going to say.

 

“Hey, is everything okay?”

 

Liam held his breath while he waited for the answer not knowing if it would be good or bad news. He hoped for good.

 

“Everything's fine. I've talked to him and his name is Harry. He's eighteen years old and lives everywhere he said. Which basically means that he has no home and that we were right. He didn't tell me much more than that. I need you to do me a favour though.”

 

He let out a sigh of relief when he heard the news and gave the two other boys who were listening closely a smile and a thumbs up.

 

“That's great. And yeah, I'll do anything.”

 

At least now they knew the injured boy's name and it would be great to have something to call him. Eighteen was an awfully young age to be going around on the street with a baby though. He wanted to know what happened with them.

 

“Can you come down to the hospital with the baby as soon as possible? Harry would like to see him. His name is Jamie by the way and he's Harry's son.”

 

Lots of thoughts came into his head at the same time when Louis mentioned that Jamie was Harry's son. It did make a lot of sense actually, but at the same time there was something that didn't. He was confused.

 

“Yeah, sure. Just text me his room so I know where to go. Danielle is bathing and feeding him, but I'll bring him as soon as possible.”

 

“Thanks Li, I'll see you soon then.”

 

Louis hung up before Liam could say goodbye and normally that would bother him, but it didn't as much now as he knew Louis was probably stressing a lot more than Liam was. He turned to the boys that were cuddling on the sofa and explained to then everything about Harry and Jamie and what was going to happen. He then told them to just head to bed because it looked like they were ready to fall asleep on the sofa which wouldn't be that comfortable considering they didn't really fit properly on it.

 

They didn't even bother to reply, they just got up and went into their own bedroom to probably not sleep at all, Liam was glad he was leaving with the baby. Didn't need the child to hear that on his first day in the house.

 

He was going to wait in the living room for Danielle to come back, but he got impatient after two minutes and just went into the bathroom to find her. He stopped in the doorway and smiled at the view in front of him. Danielle was humming softly to the little baby boy who was laying patiently on the bathroom counter top while she dressed him. He was smiling up at her and making noises that sounded like he was trying to sing along with her. It was a beautiful sight to watch.

 

It reminded him that someday in the future maybe not too far off from that moment, the pretty girl in front of him was going to be his wife, carry his babies and bathe their son or daughter. He couldn't help but smile at the thought. Danielle would be the perfect wife and mum and he was so incredibly lucky to have her in his life. He couldn't ask for anyone better.

 

“What are you thinking and smiling about?”

 

He was brought back to the presence when he heard her talk. She was only a few centimetres in front of him now with Jamie in her arms. The little boy was trying to reach over to grab Liam’s shirt, but his little arms were too short.

 

“You, us and our future. Just looking at you just now made me realize how much I want something like that with you one day.”

 

She smiled at him and walked closer so that she could kiss his lips without squishing Jamie between them.

 

“And one day, when the time is right, we will.”

 

She handled over Jamie who had finally gotten a hold his Liam's shirt and walked past him out of the bathroom. He followed her seconds after.

 

“I have to go to work. Do you think you can take care of him alone for a while?”

 

He nodded and told her that he had to go to the hospital to meet Louis anyway. She came close to him once again to hug and kiss him once more before leaving with a reminder that Liam had to call her later.

 

Barely ten minutes after that he was sitting in his car on his way to the hospital with Jamie strapped in a baby car seat he had borrowed from some of their neighbours.


	4. Chapter three

The second Liam stepped into Harry's room he demanded Liam to hand over Jamie. Having him back in his arms made him so happy that Harry cried and whispered how sorry he was into his son's ear.

 

Liam and Louis stayed there for a bit, making small talk and just watching Harry interact with Jamie, but they eventually decided to just leave the two alone and went out to grab something to eat and buy lots of food, snacks and sweets for Harry so that he didn't have to eat the hospital food. Louis had seen him making faces at it while eating it earlier, but he was probably starving, so he ate it anyway. Louis could tell that he didn't enjoy it one bit though.

 

They got back just before visitor hours ended and they quickly gave Harry what they bought him as well as some money that he could use if he wanted to wander around the hospital. He had hesitated when they offered it to him, but he accepted it in the end thanking them over and over again.

 

Harry was a lot more hesitant to let go of Jamie, but when the nurse came back one last time to warn the two band members that they had to leave he finally let them have him. Not without a lot of kisses and promises that they would see each other soon though.

 

“Do you promise to take good care of him and to bring him back tomorrow?”

 

Liam and Louis were half way out the door when they heard Harry's raspy voice that made them turn around.

 

“We promise. We'll be here first thing in the morning. You just get some rest, okay? Don't worry about us, you'll see us soon enough.”

 

Harry only nodded and got more comfortable on the bed as he watched the three of them walk out of the door. He basically trusted his whole life in the hands of four strangers, but he couldn't help but think that it was the best idea thing for everybody.

 

\---

 

Jamie was fast asleep in Louis' arms before they even got downstairs to the lobby and out in the car. He had recognized Harry once he and Liam stepped into Harry's room earlier and had squealed and laughed once he was in Harry's arms.

 

It was amazing for Louis to see how close they were and even though life hadn't been kind to them and they had some really shitty living conditions, they still had each other and that seemed like the most important thing for the both of them. Louis had no doubt that Harry was a great dad and would do anything to protect and make Jamie happy. He had figured that out just by watching Harry and Jamie interact earlier.

 

Louis decided that he wanted to make life a little bit easier on the both of them and brought it up to Liam once they were both seated in the car.

 

“I talked to Harry earlier before you and Jamie arrived and I asked him about where they were living and his only answer was “everywhere”, which I guess means that we were right and that they live on the streets. He also said that Jamie doesn't have a proper bed and that can't be good for a little baby like him, can it? I feel bad for them, Li. I mean, even though they still had each other and that somehow seemed enough for them, they still have nowhere to live, sleep or eat. London can be really dangerous all day, but even dangerous at night. Harry's barely eighteen years old for Christ sake, and not only does he have to be a dad at that age, but he also have to take care of both him and his baby on the streets.

 

It's probably been a little easier now that we've had spring and summer and the weather haven't been that cold, but winter is coming soon and imagine how that would be? We can barely walk to the store down the block when it's at it's coldest temperature, how do you think it would be like if we didn't have anywhere to go inside to heat ourselves up and not even having a jacket and proper boots to help us.

 

He doesn't have anyone to care for him it seems like, the doctor told me that he had phoned his parents, but they had hung up once they said Harry's name and they didn't even care that he was in the hospital. How shitty parents must they be?”

 

Jamie woke up for a second and gave out a little cry before he just shifted in his car seat and went back to sleep.

 

“I think all if it is so horrible if I'm honest. I wouldn't want to live a life like that and I would be so crushed if my parents didn't want anything to do with me, so I can't imagine how he must feel like. I don't think there's anything we can do about it though, I don't think we can just show up at his parents’ house and demand that they take him in or just buy him a home.”

 

Louis' whole face brightened up when Liam was finished talking. Maybe they couldn't buy a flat for the kid, but they could provide him with a roof over his head, if only for a little while.

 

“I wouldn't want to buy him a home though, but we have a spare room now that Niall and Zayn are sharing. They could live with us. The flat is big enough for all of us anyway. We could help Harry find a job and earn some money to find them a decent place for them to live. It wouldn't be that bad would it?”

 

Liam looked sceptical and Louis completely understood why. He tried to convince both himself and Liam that it wouldn't be bad, but a part of him knew that it could go really wrong. But it could also go extremely right.

 

“I don't know, Louis. Do you really think that's a good idea? I mean, he seems nice enough now, but what if he really isn't? He could be a thief. He must've stolen something if that was his only way to survive. And do we really want to drag him and Jamie into our lives? We're famous Louis. We're constantly in the spotlight and we travel a lot. There's gonna be paps and fans everywhere and everyone would want to know about them. And what about Zayn and Niall, do you think they'll agree to let a stranger move in with us? They haven't even met him yet.”

 

Liam was somewhat right, they really had to talk it through carefully with Zayn and Niall present and they had to think about everything. They also had to tell Harry about their lives and what he should and shouldn't do. The paps and the fans could potentially break him and Jamie, so that was something they had to be smart about.

 

And what about Jamie? Who would watch him if Harry had to work? Would he get a job in the first place?

 

Could they even trust Harry alone in their flat?

 

Louis shook all the questions out of his head, he was determined to help no matter what. He had made up his mind. He just needed to get the others on board.

 

“If he can trust us with his most loved thing in the whole entire world, I'm pretty sure we can trust him to live with us. He kind of owes us that at least. Besides, if he did something and ran away, he can't be that bad to find, he doesn't really have any place to go and I don't think he has a passport to even get out of the country. We'll be fine.

 

We'll just help him out for a little bit, yeah? We'll talk with Niall and Zayn and then I'll talk to him tomorrow when I take Jamie to the hospital. It'll work out, I promise. I just want him and Jamie to be safe and feel like someone cares about him.”

 

Louis could see that Liam wasn't entirely convinced but he couldn't help but smile when he saw Liam nod.

 

“Fine, but don't celebrate too early though, we still have two more people to convince.”

 

\---

 

Louis woke up earlier then he liked to when Jamie had woken up, but he didn't really mind. He just got up to change the baby's nappy, get him dressed and feed him before they headed to the hospital. He had luckily showered before going to bed when Zayn and Niall had agreed to put him to sleep. They didn't have a proper bed for him yet, so until they got one, Jamie slept in his bed that he had pushed into the wall and secured it with tons of pillows all around him so he wouldn't hurt himself while he slept.

 

When they had gotten home the day before, they had immediately sat down with Niall and Zayn to talk about what they had discussed in the car and they didn't even hesitate or looked sceptical when they brought it up. They both just looked at each other, shrugged and said yes, like there wasn't any risk at all to it all.

 

And just like that it was all decided, Harry and Jamie was going to move in with them until something else came up. Louis was much happier than he actually showed the boys, he couldn't wait to get to know Harry.

 

If Harry agreed to it all that is. Louis hoped he would.

 

While Louis' three band mates and roommates stayed at home to clear out Niall's old room, Louis had decided to go out a lot earlier to plan so that he could go out and shop for them. They needed to buy a crib, a stroller, their own car seat, some new clothes and some toys for Jamie. And then he was going to buy a new clothing items and shoes for Harry as well. He would go out with Harry once he got out of the hospital to buy him some toiletries and whatever else he needed.

 

After they had done that, they headed over to the hospital to see Harry and hopefully convince Harry that it would be a great idea to move in with them. Hopefully Harry would think so.

 

\---

 

It only took a few hours for Louis to get everything he needed for Jamie and Harry and it had gone fairly well. It wasn't easy going around shopping with a baby in your arms, so the stroller was the first thing he had bought and he started using it immediately.

 

He got recognized a few times though which wasn't good. He could practically hear the rumours about him having a baby and there would certainly be pictures of him and Jamie all over even before he got a chance to step out of the shop.

 

\---

 

When he got to the hospital Harry was eating some of the snacks they had bought him yesterday while he changed the channel on the TV. Louis knew that he probably had changed it a hundred times by now as there was absolutely nothing going at this time of the day.

 

He handed Jamie over to Harry and sat down on the chair in the corner once he made sure Jamie wouldn't somehow fall off before Harry had a good grip on him.

 

“I have something I wanted to talk to you about. If you look at it right, it might be some good news.”

 

Harry had just taken off Jamie's jacket and shoes when he looked over at Louis.

 

“Oh? What is it?”

 

Louis got a bit nervous about telling him at that point. What if he took it the wrong way? What if he got mad at him because they thought he'd only offer because he felt bad? But no, Louis would not back away from this. He was gonna say it.

 

“The boys and I were talking last night after we put Jamie to bed and we agreed to let you stay with us for a while – if you want to of course. You'll get your own room and bathroom so if you wanted to take a nap or let Jamie take a nap, you wouldn't have to do it on the sofa. Everything else is taken care of. The boys are at home right now and cleaning out Niall's old room as we speak and I've already bought a crib, a stroller, a car seat and some toys for Jamie.”

 

Harry couldn't believe his own ears when he heard what Louis had to say. Were they really offering him and his son a room in their flat? How kind were these people? Why would they do this for him?

 

“Are you serious?”

 

He had to ask just to make sure they weren't bullshitting him and that they wouldn’t turn him in to the child protective services because of how he had raised Jamie.

 

“Yes, I am. I even bought you some clothes as well. There's an outfit in the bag by the closet, but I'll take the rest home and put it in your closet until you get there.”

 

Harry raised his eyebrow at him and couldn't help but chuckle.

 

“You've bought all of those things even though you weren't sure that I'd actually say yes to live with you? What would you do if I said no?”

 

Louis rolled his eyes and leaned forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees.

 

“Well yeah, I took a little bit of a chance, but I wanted to get everything ready for when you can get out of here. Which, by the way, is tomorrow, I spoke to the doctor before I got here. Anyway, I didn't actually think you would look forward to going back to “everywhere”.”

 

Harry winced and turned back around to make some faces at Jamie, to keep himself from crying. He absolutely didn't want to go back to “everywhere”. It was bad and having slept in a real bed for a couple of days made him realize how much he missed having one. It been cardboard boxes by far.

 

“You're right, I don't. But you don't know me though, how can you trust me to live in your flat?”

 

Louis pursed his lips and looked at the little baby boy in Harry's arms.

 

“I figured that if you can trust us with what you loved the most, we can trust you to have you around in our flat.”

 

Harry was so overwhelmed by how kind and loving Louis were that he couldn't keep his tears from not spilling any more.

 

“Thank you. I don't know why you're doing this, nobody ever has. It means a lot to both me and Jamie.”

 

Louis leant back into his chair again and quietly observed the two boys in front of him for a bit before answering.

 

“You're more than welcome. There's a few conditions, you could say, though. You need to get a job, to earn some of your own money and save up for your own place someday. You have to prepare for some attention, there's paps and fans following us around every time we go outside and once they find out about you hanging around with us all the time, they want to know as much as possible about you and will probably follow you around and be wanting to ask you questions. You'll hopefully get used to them quickly and manage to ignore them, but it's just a heads up.

 

We're going on tour soon, so you'll probably have the flat for yourself a bit, the first leg of the tour isn't very long and we're not going far, so it shouldn't be a problem, but we'll eventually go to America and Australia, so we'll be gone much longer at the time.

 

And lastly; we're famous if you didn't catch that.”

 

Harry was quiet for a couple of minutes trying to wrap his head around everything that Louis had said. The only words that really stuck with him was “we're famous”. He was going to move in with famous people, how did that happen?

 

“Oh, I didn't know that. Didn't really pay attention to the media that much, you know. But thanks for warning me though, I'll be prepared if I ever see someone with a camera around me. If you don't mind me asking though, what exactly do you do? Are you actors, football players, dancers? Maybe some other sport? Musicians?”

 

Once he got over the little shock he had gotten when he found out he was going to live with celebrities, he got excited. He couldn't really believe that four celebrities would just let him move in with them just like that, that celebrities would visit him at the hospital when he got hurt and that they would take care of his little baby boy when he couldn't. It was hard to believe, really.

 

“It's a bit silly actually, but we're in a boyband called One Direction. We placed third in the X-factor back in 2010.”

 

Harry's whole face brightened up with realization when he finally figured out who they were.

 

“Wait, you're in that band everybody went crazy about? The one that the judged put together? One of Simon's acts, right? I remember Ga – um, someone I knew used to watch that show just because of you. She was so upset when you lost. You're good. It makes a bit more sense now though, why all of those girls ran over me.”

 

Louis noticed Harry's little slip up and how tense he became when he caught himself doing it, but he didn't say anything. He didn't want to upset him more than he actually was.

 

“Yeah, that's us. We're doing great now. Everybody keeps comparing us to the Beatles, but even I know that's such bullshit. Anyway, I think I'll just leave you and Jamie alone for a bit. I've got a few errands to run and then I have to check up on the boys and make sure they get the crib in place and all that. I'll be back with some more food and snacks and to pick up Jamie when visitors hours are up. I'll see you later.”

 

He didn't even bother to let Harry reply as he was already half way out the door before he was done talking. He needed to make everything perfect for when Harry could get out of there, he needed to make Harry happy. Nobody else tried to do it after all.  


	5. Chapter four

Just as Harry was ready to leave his hospital room, Louis walked in with Jamie in his arms. Jamie immediately wiggled in Louis' arms wanting so badly to be held by his dad that Louid didn't wait to hand him over and watched with a fond smile as Harry greeted his son with a soft hello and a kiss on the cheek.

 

While Harry was busy snuggling and talking to Jamie, Louis went around the room just cleaning up a bit and double checking if Harry had forgotten anything (which really wouldn't be much). When he was sure everything was all right, he grabbed Harry's bag and they all headed out of the room to check Harry out. Once they were done doing that, Harry wasn't slow about heading towards the direction of the life that would lead them downstairs to the exit, but Louis stopped him.

 

“We need to go this way, down the stairs and out of the back door. The paparazzi and fans somehow figured out where I was going and when I arrived they were swarming outside the front entrance. They kept asking me questions about Jamie, but I ignored them and went inside as fast as I could. I called Danielle and asked her to pick us up; she'll be waiting right outside the back door. I'll have to come back to pick up my car later.

 

Both boys started walking towards the direction of the back door, Harry saying goodbye to every one they walked past. Louis found it adorable how a person who (he assumed) didn't have such a great childhood could be so polite to everyone. Polite even to those who gave Louis and Harry looks that clearly stated that they don't approve of them, whatever they thought was going on between the both of them and Jamie.

 

Danielle was waiting outside in her car when they got there, she looked worried and kept checking every mirror and window constantly as if there was someone dangerous hunting her and she needed to be out of there as soon as possible. She rolled down the window when she saw them coming out.

 

“You might want to hurry up a bit so we can get out of here, I'm pretty sure I heard someone talking about me a few minutes ago and I keep seeing movement all around me. The quicker you get in the car the quicker we can get out of here!”

 

Neither of the boys wasted any more time getting in the car. Harry and Jamie jumped into the back seat and Harry strapped Jamie into his seat as soon as he got in. Louis jumped into the front seat and checked that Harry was ready before he told Danielle to drive.

 

“How did you get a car seat for Jamie on such short notice, Dani? The only one we have is the one in my car.”

 

He kept looking in the rear view mirror back at Harry and smiled when Harry smiled at him through the mirror and went back to stroking trough Jamie's short hair.

 

“I had one in my attic actually. My sister gave it to me when she didn't need it anymore. She told me to save it for when I get my own kids someday. You can keep it for now though, have it as a spare or something.”

 

Louis couldn't help but smile at that. He knew Liam wanted to have children with Danielle and given how the two of them had handled the last couple of days, Louis knew that they would one day be great parents and any kid would be lucky to have them as their mum and dad.

 

Louis then remembered that he hadn't officially introduced Harry and Danielle and even though they most likely knew each other’s name he decided to do it anyway.

 

“By the way, Harry, this is Danielle. She's Liam's girlfriend and one of my best friends and Danielle, this is Harry, he's Jamie's dad and he'll be living with us for a while.”

 

Danielle and Harry smiled at each other through the mirror and said hi and the little awkwardness that none of them had really noticed until they had introduced themselves was gone and they kept talking while driving to the nearest place to get some food.

 

The nearest placed ended up being a McDonalds drive through and they happily drove through it to order some breakfast for themselves and for the three boys that were waiting for them at home.

 

Jamie had fallen asleep somewhere between them properly introducing themselves and them buying breakfast and they ended up driving in mostly silence all the way back home because they didn't want to wake him.

 

If Louis thought that the swarm of paparazzi and fans outside the hospital was bad, it was nothing compared to the swarm outside their flat. Both Louis and Danielle was quick to tell Harry to hide, knowing that the paparazzi wouldn't see him because of the tinted windows. They probably wouldn't care that much when they figured out who Louis was driving around with and the fact that he was seen with a baby at the hospital and that they clearly had a baby seat in the back seat.

 

Louis could practically see the headlines already and by the looks of it, so could Danielle.

 

Danielle managed to drive through all of the people outside their gate and drove into the garage. She got out first to double check that nobody had followed them inside and when she was sure there wasn't anyone, she motioned for Louis and Harry to let them know that the coast was clear. When they had gotten everything they needed out of the car and Jamie was safe in Harry's arms again, they walked into the lift and up to the flat where the three other boys were waiting for them.

 

If Harry said that he wasn't surprised at all when he got in the flat, he would've been lying. His eyes were practically popping out of his head as he walked in. He had never seen a flat like this in his entire life. It was a hundred times nicer than any place he had ever lived in before and the best thing about it all was that it was going to be his and Jamie's home for a while.

 

After they had taken their shoes and jacket off, they walked into the living room where the rest of the boys were. The two Harry didn't know yet were snuggling under a blanket on one of sofas and Liam was sitting curled up on the other sofa looking like he had just woken up.

 

Danielle immediately walked over to Liam's side and sat down to give him a kiss and curled up against his side to lay her head on his shoulder and Louis walked straight into the kitchen to prepare the food, leaving Harry awkwardly standing in the doorway holding Jamie. He wasn't sure what to do.

 

He kept standing there until Louis came back with food and plates and noticed him looking a bit out of place. He should really work on hosting his guest a little bit better around his friends.

 

“Harry, just sit down please. From now on this is your place as well, so you don't have to be shy around us. You're gonna be living with four other boys, there's no place to be shy around us at all. Can't count how many times each of us has walked into someone naked or worse, someone having sex. You'll hear it loud and clear too.”

 

He sat down the food and the plates on the coffee table before he turned to the rest of the people sitting there and continued.

 

“But now considering we have a one year old child living with us, we might want to be a bit quieter when we decide to have sex. Don't you think boys and girls?”

 

Harry knew he addressed all of them (even though two of them weren't even awake), but he was giving the two sleeping boys an extra pointed look before he turned back to Harry and smiled.

 

“As I said, there's really not time to be shy about anything around here. Now come sit down and eat. This is Zayn and Niall by the way, if you can't tell already, they're together. We're normally all really cuddly with each other, but not that cuddly. Don't pay much attention to them, they have a habit of forgetting that they live with two other people and that they've had a child living under their roof for the last few of days.”

 

When Harry sat down and put Jamie on the floor so that he could eat, Jamie quickly made his way over to Niall and Zayn on the sofa. He couldn't crawl properly still, as it had been hard to do so on the hard concrete ground, but he managed to move around as best as he could and his legs were strong enough to hold him up if he was leaning against something. That's what he did when he got to the sofa, he hauled himself up and leaned against it, looking at the two boys who were still sleeping. He had adjusted really well around the flat without Harry being there.

 

It wouldn't take him long to learn both to crawl and walk properly and maybe living with this many people would help him start talking as well. Harry hoped it would, he was nearly two and hadn't said a word yet.

 

Jamie was waiting for the blond one (who was closest to him) to wake up, but when he didn't while he stood there he tried to speak to him in words nobody could understand and waved his little arms in Niall's face. When he noticed that that didn't work either, he did something Harry would never have expected and before he could do anything to stop him, he had smashed his little palm right down on Niall's cheek which clearly helped.

 

Niall woke up with wide eyes and sat up as quickly as he could and amazingly enough manage to do so without waking Zayn. Jamie started laughing so hard that he fell down on his ass and he turned to face his dad with his big green eyes lined with tears, he clearly found Niall's reaction hilarious.

 

Harry was about to apologize on Jamie's behalf, but before he could do that Niall sat up properly so that he could lift Jamie up from the floor to sit him on top of Zayn's stomach.

 

“Thank you so much for the wakeup call, Jamie. Just in time for breakfast. How about waking up Zayn too? Don't hit him though, by the look on your dad's face I don't think he likes that you hit me. You'll find another way to wake him up, I'm sure. Maybe a kiss or something.”

 

Jamie looked at Niall with a big smile on his face before he turned around to look at Zayn. He laid down on his stomach on top of Zayn's and inched his face closer and closer to Zayn's face, stopping only a few centimetres away from it. Before he could do anything though, Niall turned properly towards him and started tickling him and made him wiggle his whole body around on top of the older boy, which was enough to make Zayn wake up with a groan.

 

Everyone was laughing at the look of Zayn's face – Niall especially – who lifted Jamie from his boyfriend's stomach so that they both could sit on the ground and laugh. Once they were all mostly done and Zayn didn't look ready to hurt someone, Niall turned to Harry.

 

“You have a great son! Funny little lad, ain't he? Gonna enjoy having him around the house for a while longer. We've had a lot of fun the last few days, haven't we Jamie?”

 

He looked down at Jamie who was the only one still laughing, but even though he was shaking rather violently on the floor he still managed to nod his head in agreement at Niall's question.

 

It was great for Harry to see how well he had adjusted to the boys and Danielle and had gotten used to being around strangers. When they lived on the streets, he was always really sceptical and scared of other people, but here Jamie had just made himself at home and acted like he had known them his whole life. It warmed Harry's heart and he was so grateful and happy that four unknown boys and one girl could be so open and caring towards two complete strangers they found on the streets. He couldn't be happier that they were the ones who found Jamie and himself, and not somebody else.

 

“Thank you. I really appreciate everything you've done and are doing for us. I can clearly see that Jamie has gotten really fond of you all even though it's only been a few days. I'm so thankful that you're letting us stay here with you. I know that you're busy lads, but I don't know what I'd do if I had to go back to living like we used to after having stayed in a proper bed these past few days. It would've been even worse if I had to go back without Jamie there with me. He's really been the only thing worth doing it for, I would've been lost without it. But I know it wasn't good for him, for neither of us. I lived in constant fear that someone would sneak up on us and take him, that he'd get bitten by something dangerous or that he would just move away on his own while I wasn't looking.”

 

He swallowed a few times, thinking back to that one time he had put Jamie down just for a second to fix something and by that time Jamie had moved towards a cat who looked like it was ready to attack any second. He had thankfully lifted him up and walked away before that happened.

 

Harry had also seen the looks some people had given them when they walked down the street, some of them looked like they were planning a big kidnapping and probably a murder just by the time they managed to walk past them.

 

He was scared for both of their lives, so scared that he had squished inside tight spaces and between buildings just to hide away from everyone and everything. It was uncomfortable and not really that safe, but it helped Harry calm down a little bit, which was all he hoped for.

 

“Don't worry about it, mate. It's been an absolute pleasure having him here and we're looking forwards to have both you and him around the house all the time. I'm sure everything will be fine once you get settled in and we get to know each other better.”

 

Jamie had moved away from Niall and over to one of the toys Danielle had bought him the first day. He started screaming at it and banging it on the floor before he changed his mind and started chewing on it instead. Harry thought he looked happier than he'd ever been, even happier than when they lived with his mum.

 

Harry shook the thought of Gabrielle out of his head before it managed to develop properly and turned to face the table and the food that he had barely touched yet. It was probably cold now, but he was hungry so he ate it anyway. It was the first time he had eaten properly since before he could remember. The crappy hospital food didn't count.

 

“After we've eaten and the food has settled in our stomachs, I'll show you your room and we'll settle Jamie's bed up together. Then we're going out to buy some paint and decorations for you to decorate how you want it. You can pick whatever colour you like and we'll paint it sometimes this week. I think everything will be an improvement to that horrible orange colour Niall painted it with when we first moved in. It's no surprise that Zayn insisted they'd share his room when they got together. It hurts our eyes just walking in there.”

 

Louis earned a smack in the back of the head from Niall after that comment and everybody was laughing including Jamie. Harry found it funny that nobody (not even Niall) protested about Niall's choice of colour.

 

He already felt comfortable around them, it didn't feel like he only met two of them barely an hour ago, it felt much, much longer than that.

 

Maybe this was a sign that things would get much better for Harry and Jamie; that their life would turn and be great. Maybe this was fate and that he and Jamie had only had to live on the streets just so it would lead them to meet One Direction. Harry don't think he would've met them had he stayed with Gabrielle.

 

Maybe it wasn't a punishment (like Harry had thought so many times), but just a way for them to be able to meet without anything stopping them.  


	6. Chapter five

The following week went by faster than Harry would've liked. There was so much happening and even though he enjoyed every second of it he still would've liked for it to slow down a little bit so that he could savour it.

 

After they all had eaten that first afternoon, Harry and the rest of the boys went upstairs to put together Jamie's bed while Danielle stayed downstairs with Jamie. Since they hadn't gotten Jamie a bed until the day before, he had slept in Louis' bed with Louis, but they all thought that he should have his own bed and not get used to sleeping with others all the time.

 

Putting the bed together was hard when you had to deal with five idiots. None of them really knew how to read the instructions properly and they'd read it differently and everything went wrong and they kept screaming at each other in frustration. Thankfully Danielle came up after a while and directed everything. She'd read the instructions since she had Jamie in her arms, Liam, Niall, and Zayn put together the bed while Louis and Harry got the rest of the room ready for Jamie and tried to clean up after the other three. It all went great after that, they used roughly an hour to get everything done and when they were finished, Louis announced that he and Harry were going out to pick up Louis' car at the hospital and then going shopping for paints and whatever else they needed.

 

Harry chose a simple soft grey colour for their bedroom, it was a nice colour that would fit perfectly and even though Louis had protested and told him to get a bit bolder of a colour, Harry stuck with it. He also bought some simple decorations. Not anything fancy or huge, some small wall décor, a few fake plants, a fancy lamp he completely fell in love with when he saw it, but didn't want to buy that Louis bought anyway and lastly some scented candles. He liked those, it was a huge improvement from the sewer they sometimes could smell while they were living on the streets.

 

Once they had gotten everything they needed at the decoration store, they went grocery shopping. Louis picked up everything he knew they needed around in the flat, buying extra of things because Niall ate a lot.

 

“You can pick whatever you want, you know. I don't mind. If you see anything you want, just throw it in here, it's no time to be shy.”

 

Harry really didn't want to overstep it, but he picked up something anyway. Nothing huge, just a few various food he'd liked along with drinks like juice, coffee and even tea flavour and some snacks. He also picked up some baby food, nappies, wipes, milk and various other stuff he knew Jamie needed. The last thing they picked up was toiletries for Harry and Jamie, just some toothbrushes (Louis insisted on buying more than just one each, they needed extras), toothpaste, hand soaps, shampoos, conditioner (Harry said he didn't need it, but Louis said he did because his curls must've been a nightmare if not), shower gel and even bath soaps. It was way more than Harry needed, but no matter what he said Louis put it in the trolley anyway.

 

When they had picked up everything and Louis had paid for it, they headed out to the car that was parked not far from the door, Harry was getting tired and missed Jamie, so he just wanted to get out of there as quickly as possible, he wasn't prepared for the fans that came running towards them just when they were finished putting their bags in the car. As a reflex Harry grabbed onto Louis' arm and side and started to breathe heavily when he remembered what happened the last time fans came running towards Louis.

 

Louis noticed Harry's reaction and acted quickly by pulling Harry in the opposite direction (remembering to turn around quickly to lock his car) and jumped into a nearby taxi. He ordered the driver to just start driving and he gave him his address once he got his breathing back. He gave himself a mental note to go back and pick up his car later. Again. He should start getting a driver or take taxies everywhere instead.

 

It had been a fun day and the rest of the week went buy with them painting and decorating the room just how Harry wanted. He was in charge and it was perfect.

 

He had also opened up more around the boys, he was comfortable around them all and he really felt like they had been friends for longer than just under a week.

 

Niall and Zayn had thought Jamie how to stand up by himself without holding on to something and hopefully he'd start walking soon. They were working on it, but Jamie's legs wasn't helping along. They would eventually though.

 

While the rest of them were busy painting Harry and Jamie's room, Liam had volunteered to babysit Jamie and took him to the zoo with Danielle. The next day there was a huge picture of them with some kind of crazy headline in every newspaper and magazine in the country. Everyone was wondering who the mystery baby belonged to and they even had a few questions about Harry, as they had seen him out shopping with Louis.

 

Harry had learned not to pay too much attention to it though, that he should just let the media and fans speculate on they own, let the rumours and theories go around by themselves until they were old news.

 

\-----

 

When Harry and Jamie could finally sleep in their own room after Harry having to sleep in the couch and Jamie sleeping with Louis because of the paint fumes, Harry was exhausted, happy, and relaxed at the same time. He still couldn't believe how lucky they were. He was just some kid that lived on the streets with a baby, but still four famous popstars offered to help them out, let them get comfortable in their own home. He was sure that no other celebrity would even take a second glance at him if they found him like the One Direction boys did.

 

It was amazing how those four young boys cared more about them than Harry's own parents and Jamie's mum or any other person Harry used to know, used to be close to.

 

“Can you believe how lucky we are, Jamie?”

 

He was laying on his back on his bed with Jamie laying on his stomach of top of his. He had his head rested on Harry's chest and his thumb was sticking into his mouth. He was half asleep and Harry knew that he kept talking he would fall asleep without a problem.

 

“I mean, we lived outside for a long time and I'm really sorry for putting you through that. I felt horrible and scared every day for what I put you trough, but think about it; of it weren't for that, if it weren't for those girls and if it weren't for the boys, we wouldn't be here right now. We couldn't be sleeping in a proper comfortable bed, we could probably be hungry and cold and we would be walking around London trying to find a safe place to sleep.

 

But instead we have our own room and our own bathroom. Just downstairs there's a fridge and cupboard filled with food that we can eat when we want, there's hot water, clean clothes and there's four other boys living in the same flat as us, that care about us, you especially. It makes me happy to see them play with you and see you laugh when you're with them. I'm so happy that you have someone to play with, someone who will teach you things. It won't be long until you're walking. I know Niall and Zayn have been practising with you a lot. And I know Liam and Danielle have been reading with you, so maybe you'll be able to say your first proper word soon. Hopefully it'll be daddy.”

 

He had been right about him talking Jamie to sleep, because as he looked down to check on him after he had finished speaking, Jamie was fast asleep, his thumb almost out of his mouth.

 

“I hope it'll be Louis.”

 

Harry turned his head towards the doorway where the voice came from and saw Louis leaning against it with a small smirk across his lips.

 

“How long have you been standing there?”

 

Louis moved further into the room when he heard the other boys laugh really loudly in the living room and quietly shut the door behind him so the noises wouldn't wake Jamie.

 

“Just long enough to watch how cute you both look and listen to you tell him how lucky you are.”

 

Harry had stood up by now with Jamie still pressed to his chest. He walked over to Jamie's own bed and carefully tried to put him down in it without waking him.

 

“It's true; we are. I don't even know what we did to deserve this. Liam told me that you were the only ones who cared that I was hurt and the only ones who bothered to check if I was alive. And you and Liam were the only ones who cared enough to visit me at the hospital. Not even my own parents bothered. They didn't even stay long enough on the phone to hear what was wrong with me.”

 

He had sat down on the bed again, a single tear sliding down his check when he thought of how worthless he must be for his parents to hate him so much that they didn't even care that he could be dying. He knew they hated him, but he never really wanted to believe that they hated him that much.

 

Louis saw that tear and immediately walked over and sat down beside to on the bed, so that they were facing each other and he could reach up and dry away the tear and hug Harry.

 

“You've got us now though. We adore both you and Jamie and we really enjoy having both of you here. You know that you can stay here as long as you'd like. We're not gonna throw you out, we would never do that to you or to Jamie. I especially like having you here, you're good company when the others decide to go out on dates and I don't feel so alone now. Before you came we practically lived on pizza and take out, but you can cook and you cook for us. You're really easy to talk to and no matter what has happened to you before, you try to stay positive and happy. It's so wonderful to watch you light up every time Jamie laughs and have fun and I admire you for how good you raised him, giving the circumstances you were in. I don't think I would've been able to do anything like that I was put in your position. I don't even think I would've survived by myself, yet you managed to keep both you and a one year old child alive for several months. I admire how strong you are and I wish I was that strong too.”

 

More tears had slid down Harry's face and he was clinging more tightly to Louis' body, loving the feeling that someone really cared about him, that someone was kind enough to tell him how much they admired him for what he had done.

 

“Thank you, Louis. You really have no idea how hard it was, but I knew that I had to get through it no matter what. To be honest, Jamie was the only thing that kept me alive, I know that he didn't deserve any of the things he had to go through and I owed him to get through it; to make the best of it and make sure he grew up right.”

 

When Louis felt Harry clinging tighter onto his body, something fluttered inside of him and he couldn't help but smile as he pulled Harry to him even tighter to him, if that was possible.

 

“And you did a wonderful job with him. I think he's extremely grateful for what you did, he's just not old enough to express it yet, but he will be eventually and he'll tell you. Anyway let's stop talking about stuff that makes you cry. Turn on the baby monitor and we'll make some dinner okay? The other boys and Danielle are heading out soon, so it's just gonna be you and me tonight. And after dinner I'm thinking that we'll make some popcorn and just cuddle up on the sofa with some film until we can barely keep our eyes open, how does that sound?”

 

Harry pulled away slightly so that he could look at Louis, his tear-filled green eyes met Louis' blue ones and a watery smile spread across his lips.

 

“I'd love that.”  


	7. Chapter six

The month between Harry and Louis' conversation in the bedroom and One Direction's tour came quickly and it would be the first time Harry would be left alone since he moved in. He was nervous about being alone for some reason, but he knew that the boys would only be gone for two weeks and they'd only be around Europe, so if something serious happened, the boys wouldn't be too far away. Besides; Danielle wasn't going anywhere.

 

Jamie was covered with kisses from all the boys and when Harry had laughed at his reaction to all of them (scrunching up his nose and making silly faces), he had gotten attacked with kisses as well and ended up having to almost shove them out the door before it got too much. He wasn't used to that much attention.

 

The day before Louis had given Harry his own cell phone that he could use to call them whenever he needed anything or just wanted to talk and using it to communicate with Danielle. He had also given him a credit card that he could use to buy food and everything he needed for Jamie and himself.

 

It wasn't until the day after the boys had left that Harry realized that it maybe would be time for him to get his own job, so he called up Danielle and asked her to babysit and was on his way as soon as she got there.

 

It didn't go well though, he had asked a nearby Starbucks, a few café’s and plenty of different stores, both clothing stores that needed someone to clean around the store and grocery stores, but once they talked to him, asked him about his life and where he went to school, they turned him down.

 

Harry didn't lie when asked questions and he hoped that his honesty would help him in getting something, but nobody wanted to hire an eighteen year old boy with a child, no real work experience and had never finished school.

 

It was hard to Harry to know that he had ruined every chance he had for his future, simply because he chose to take care of his son instead of going to school.

 

Later that day when he came back to the flat, Danielle was sitting on the sofa reading a book out loud for Jamie. He was sat on her lap and his whole face lit up as soon as his dad stepped in the door. He squealed happily and wiggled around on Danielle's lap until she set him down on the floor so he could crawl his way over to his dad who picked him up.

 

“How did it go?”

 

He sighed and sat down on the sofa beside her, clutching Jamie against his chest.

 

“Bad. No one wants to hire me.”

 

He looked down to Jamie who was slowly dosing off against him. Harry never regretted doing what he did, never once thought twice about not wanting to raise his own son. It was the right decision, why couldn't anyone else see that?

 

“Don't say that. I'm sure someone out there wants to, you just didn't look hard enough. Look through the papers or online. It'll work out, I promise.”

 

She scooted closer to him so that he could hug him without waking Jamie and stroke him on the back.

 

“Thanks Dani.”

 

She pulled away and smiled to him.

 

“Smile okay? Make yourself some dinner, eat and relax with a film or something. I'm sure Louis' will call sometimes tonight. Don't beat yourself up because of all of this. I'd stay with you, but I have a late night dance class, so I need to get going. But call of you need anything and I'll come back tomorrow with some pizza and a film to watch, okay?”

 

She kissed his cheek and stood up from the couch. She placed a kiss to Jamie's head first before leaving with a “good luck” and “good bye” to Harry.

 

He decided to take her advice and look online to see if the found something, anything would help really, but he had no luck and he gave up after about and half an hour of searching. Everyone wanted someone with experience.

 

He was about to close the laptop and make some dinner, but right as he was about to close it he noticed some news about One Direction on the site he was on. He clicked it out of curiosity. It wasn't anything special, just an article about their tour and where they would be going. He quickly scanned the related news, but it wasn't until the very bottom that something caught his eyes.

 

“ _ **Is the teenage dad using the One Direction boys (Tomlinson (20), Payne (19), Malik (19), Horan (19)) for their money?”**_

 

He immediately knew it was about him and he could already feel the tears threatening to come out as he clicked the link. He probably shouldn't read it, but he couldn't stop himself.

 

“ _If you haven't been living under a rock for the last month you would've noticed the One Direction boys hanging out with a teenage boy and a his little baby boy._

_We know that a lot of you have been wondering who this boy is and why he's hanging out with the boys from one Direction._

 

_Well, we got the answer! We spoke to a person who used to be friends with the boy, earlier this week, who told us who this mystery boy is._

 

_First of all, his name is Harry. He's an eighteen year old college drop-out who used to work in a bakery. The child is his one year old son Jamie. Apparently Harry got thrown out by his ex-girlfriend a while ago and since then nobody really knew exactly where he went, although some are reporting that they've seen him wandering around in London before he suddenly showed up with One Direction._

 

_Could this be true? Was Harry living on the street with a baby?! Does this make him a good father? Why is he hanging out with One Direction? Is he just using them for money and fame? Do they pity him?_

 

_I don't know about you guys, but we're stuck with more question than we were before we know who this boy were._

 

_What do you guys think? Tell is in the comments below!”_

 

The tears had already spilled from his eyes and Jamie was somehow woken up by his crying and was now looking up at his dad with a concerned look on his face. Well, as concerned a little boy could be when someone is crying.

 

Did they really think that Harry would use someone for their money? Did they really think he was that horrible? And who had been talking to the media about him? Why would they do that?

 

He scrolled further down to the comment section and was met with comment after comment about him.

 

“ _Well, why do they let a homeless person hang out with them? He's probably only a stalker who follows them around all the time and they pity him. What a loser!”_

 

“ _I've heard people who've seen him walk into the boys' house! He seem to live there and he hangs out with Danielle sometimes too. It's his son that Danielle and Liam's been seen with around town. He's probably too irresponsible to be a dad, so he lets other people take care of him. He needs to disappear.”_

 

“ _What a freak. Who lets a little baby live on the streets? If I had been homeless, I'd give the baby away to someone who could take care of him. That poor baby must've had a horrible life. Poor thing. If people know where he is right now, they should call child protective services and tell them about him and where he is, so they can take the baby away for good. He doesn't deserve a child.”_

 

“ _Some friends and I just saw him earlier, right outside the boys' house. He didn't have his son with him, but why was he there? The boys are in Germany so there wouldn't be any reason for him to be there right? And where did his baby go? Danielle left the house almost right after he entered. Is there something going on there? Is she cheating on Liam? With him? I knew she wasn't good for him, he should dump her!”_

 

He was shaking by now, all the comments about him hurt so much. He knew they weren't true, but to know that people thought he was a horrible father, a loser and would sleep with someone's girlfriend hurt him. He didn't want to read any more, but somehow he still did. He was about to start reading the next comment when the phone rang right beside him. It made him jump and slam the lid of the laptop down, which made Jamie jump and start crying.

 

He picked his son up and then went to pick up the phone while trying to silence the crying baby.

 

“H-hello?”

 

His voice broke a little and a small sob escaped through his lips.

 

“Harry? Are you okay? Why are you crying? Why is Jamie crying? What's going on?”

 

He sounded worried and Harry instantly felt guilty for the fact that he made the other boy worried. He didn't like that. Maybe he shouldn't be there? Should he just disappear, like the one from the comments said?

 

“I –“

 

“Harry please tell me what's wrong.”

 

Maybe he should.

 

“I can't do this. I need to go, they'll take Jamie away if I don't. They'll find me. I can't lose him to someone I don't know. He's better off with you, at least I'll know he's safe.”

 

He was panicking at this point, the thought of Jamie getting taken away was horrible and he didn't want that. He could leave and have Jamie stay with the boys. He knew they'd take good care of him. He just didn't want unknown people having him.

 

“Harry calm down, what are you talking about?”

 

On the other end he could hear the other boys in the background wondering what's going on and sounding worried, but Harry didn't care; he just needed to go.

 

“The comments, horrible comments. They'll take Jamie, but they can't. Not when I'm not here. He'll stay with you where he's safe, he knows you. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine I promise. Just take good care of him. Thank you for everything you've done. I really appreciate it. Bye.”

 

“Har –“

 

He hung up before he could hear Louis' last reply. He couldn't do it. He didn't want to hear them try to convince him to not do anything stupid. He didn't want to leave; he had nowhere to go, but he knew he had to, if he stayed Jamie might be gone. He was just ruining everyone's life, including his own son's.

 

People were right, he wasn't a good dad. A good dad would've found a job right away and found a place to live. A good dad would ensure that his son had a comfortable and safe place to sleep. And a good dad would never let his son live in the circumstances that they did. But he wasn't a good dad and he could barely even give his son decent food.

 

As he stood from the sofa to run up to his bedroom to pack a light bag with a change of clothes, he cast a glance down at Jamie that sat on the sofa looking up at him with big green eyes,probably wondering what was going on. Harry wanted so bad to take him with him, but he knew he couldn't. So instead he walked back to the sofa and bent down to kiss him on the cheek and whisper a goodbye before he ran upstairs.

 

He didn't pack much; just a change of clothes really and when he came back downstairs he made sure to leave the phone, his keys and his wallet on the kitchen counter, the only thing he kept was the few coins he kept in there. He'd probably need those someday and he's sure the boys wouldn't mind. He found a piece of paper and a pen so that he could write a note for Danielle, who he knew the boys would be calling.

 

“Take care of him, will you? Thank you for everything. I'll miss you. I hope to see you again soon. H xx.”

 

After he placed the note where he was sure she would see it, he once again went over to kiss his son goodbye. He couldn't help himself.

 

“I love you. You'll have a great life here. Please don't forget me because I'll never forget you.”

 

A tear slipped from his eyes and landed on Jamie's cheek, but Harry just dried it away and stood up. He could hear his phone ringing from the kitchen and he knew it was either Louis or Danielle trying to call him and stop him, but he didn't see he just headed for the door.

 

Once he was out of the flat, he made sure not to go out the main door and used the back door he knew about. Danielle could be coming any minute and he didn't want to risk bumping into here on the way down.

 

With one last look at the flat door, he was out of the building, leaving everything he loved behind.

 


	8. Chapter seven

Louis had called Danielle immediately after his talk with Harry and thankfully she hadn't started class yet and was able to answer and go back as soon as possible. While she was hurrying to get over to their flat, Louis explained everything. He was nearly crying and hoping that Harry was just talking shit and that he wasn't actually leaving. He couldn't.

 

He had though; the only one in the flat was Jamie who was sitting on the sofa crying. When she walked in he immediately quieted down a little, but it was like he somehow understood what was happening and kept looking at the door the entire time after she had picked him up as if he was waiting for Harry to step in any second.

 

After a little rocking back and forth and some stroking on the back, he finally fell asleep in her arms. His eyes hadn't left the door the entire time until he couldn't keep them open any more and she took him up to his bedroom to put him to bed and made sure the baby monitor was on when she left.

 

She couldn't quite figure out why Jamie was still in the flat if Harry was planning on leaving. He wouldn't willingly leave the most important thing is his life, would he?

 

She was wrong, when she walked back down to the living room she immediately spotted the note Harry had left and when she walked into the kitchen she found the key for the flat along with Harry's phone and wallet.

 

After she read the note over and over again to be sure she didn't get it wrong, she called Louis who was anxiously waiting for her to call back. It only rang once before she could hear Louis' worried voice on the other side.

 

“They're still there, right?”

 

She took a deep breath and walked over to the sofa to sit down and placed the laptop on her lap so she wouldn't sit on it.

 

“Jamie still is, but Harry isn't. He was gone when I arrived and Jamie was alone in the flat. I did find a note from Harry though. He asked that we took good care of Jamie and he thanks us for everything. He also hopes to see us again soon.”

 

She knew Louis was probably pulling his hair out and trying to breathe properly because of how worried he was.

 

“He left Jamie? Why would he do that? He wouldn't willingly do that, right?”

 

She didn't answer they both knew the answer without her having to say it out loud. Harry wouldn't willingly do that, there had to be an explanation to it.

 

“Did he seem off when he came to the flat earlier? Do you think he met someone who could have told him something? He kept babbling about someone taking Jamie away if he stayed when he talked to me.”

 

She thought about it for a second, but she didn't really notice anything. He didn't act any different except that he looked tired and disappointed about not getting a job.

 

“No, not really. He just looked exhausted and sad that nobody wanted to hire him. I told him that he shouldn't worry and that he should try searching online. There wasn't any signs about him wanting to leave when I left at least, must've happened after that.”

 

Louis was quiet for a few seconds, clearly thinking about what could have caused it, but then he spoke up so suddenly that Danielle didn't expect it and jumped a little.

 

“You said that he went online? Maybe something online made him upset? Do you have the laptop there with you? Mine should be in the living room somewhere.”

 

She looked down on the laptop on her lap and took a deep breath before she opened it. If Harry had found something, she didn't really want to read it. It must've been bad if it made Harry leave his son.

 

It was a lot worse than she expected, she had thought that maybe it was just a little article about trying to find out who he was or who Jamie was, but the things she read was downright horrible.

 

“Oh God.”

 

She was trying hard not to cry as she read comment after comment on the site Harry had forgotten to close.

 

“What? What is it?”

 

She could hear how worried he was, he was breathing so hard it almost sounded like he was having a panic attack.

 

“It's horrible. It looks like he had been googling you or something. There's this article about him only using you guys for your money. Someone who knew him has been talking to the press about him and they've told them quite a lot about him. Then there's lots of comments saying that he's a horrible dad, that he should leave, that someone should call child protective services, that he doesn't deserve Jamie and that I'm cheating on Liam with him.”

 

She was full on crying at that point and she could tell that Louis was too. In the background she could hear the other boys also crying, which meant that she was on speaker. It was awful knowing that someone you care about had to read all of this on his own and then decides to just disappear even though he didn't really want to. Sure they hadn't known him for that long, but it was long enough and to them he was already a part of their gang, their own little family.

 

“He should have known that we wouldn't let anyone take Jamie away if they tried. We all love Jamie and we know he's a good dad. We wouldn't just let it happen without a fight.”

 

Before Danielle got the chance to answer, the baby monitor went off and Jamie's cries could be heard throughout the flat.

 

“Lou, I have to go. Jamie's awake and crying. I'll cancel my plans for the rest of the day and stay here with him. I can call up some friends and ask them if they'd look around town for Harry. He can't be that far away, he left his wallet with all the money and credit card in it.”

 

She was still on the phone when she walked into the bedroom and Jamie was stood up in the bed, waiting for her to pick him up. She was sure he was expecting Harry and not her.

 

“We'll find a way to get back to London as soon as possible, okay? Just please don't leave the flat or anything, it'll just make people more suspicious. I'm sure Harry will come back soon enough, I don't think he'd want to be away from Jamie for that long. He probably just wanted a break.”

 

She hoped Louis was right and Harry only needed to get away for a few hours to think. She knew how overwhelming it all could be knowing that everyone in the country is talking about you. When she first started dating Liam she had been on the one people were talking about, she still is sometimes, but she's used to it now.

 

“I won't and I hope he will. Say hi to the other boys for me. I hope it doesn't cause you too much trouble to get here. It'll be good for Jamie to have you all around now. Call me when you know something, okay?”

 

They hung up after Louis said that he would call when he knew if they could come back and Danielle put her phone in her pocket before picking up the boy who was waiting for her.

 

The comments obviously affected Harry badly, but she knew they were all wrong. Harry was a wonderful dad and he loved his son to death. She also knew that he'd do anything to protect him even if that meant leaving him.

 

She couldn't help but feel a little mad at him for leaving his son like that though. Of course she and the boys would take care of him, but they didn't know how long he would be gone or if he'd come back at all.

 

Jamie would grow older without having either of his parents around and how were they to explain that? They couldn't just be all “oh yeah, your mum threw you and your dad out when you were just a little baby and your dad left you soon after he moved in with us” – no they couldn't do that. Would Jamie even remember him when he got older?

 

She hugged Jamie a little tighter in her arms while she waited for him to calm down. She kept whispering to him that everything would be okay, that his dad would be okay and that he would come back for him. If she told that to Jamie or to herself she didn't know, but it helped.

 

When the boy had stopped crying and started to suck his thumb she carried him down to the kitchen and sat him down in his high chair so that she could make some food for him. He let out a little cry as she walked away from him, but stopped when he saw she wasn't going far away. By the time he was done eating and put on the floor he was laughing as he played with one of the laughing toys Niall had bought for him.

 

Danielle smiled a little by the sight of him before she sat down on a chair and called up all the friends he could think of. She explained to each of them what Harry looked like and what area he might be in seeing as he couldn't be that far away. She just hoped one of them would find him and bring him back as soon as possible. If not, she and the boys had to become the best parenting figures they could ever be for the little boy. Not just for Jamie's sake, but also for Harry's.

 

 


	9. Chapter eight

They had all hoped that Harry would come back, but he didn't and nobody could find him either. Or at least they didn't and neither could any of Danielle's friends either. Calling the police would be out of the question, they didn't want to risk anything that could be avoided without them. Who knows what would happen to both Harry and Jamie if they got involved.

 

Around a month after Harry run away they had all kind of gotten used to the fact that he wouldn't be back any time soon so they all just pitched in with Jamie.

 

Jamie's bed had been moved into Louis' room so he wouldn't sleep alone and they brought him with them everywhere they went. They couldn't cancel their tour, but they had managed to convince their management to let Louis' fly back to London to at least get Jamie and bring him back with him.

 

Management hadn't been happy with having a little boy with them everywhere, but once they and the rest of the crew had met him they immediately fell in love with him, just like the band had. He was charming everyone and it wasn't hard to find someone who wouldn't babysit him while they were doing an interview or were on stage.

 

Jamie got along great with everyone which Louis thought was really amazing considering he had spent half a year alone outside with his dad only. However the little boy was used to falling asleep on someone' chest and that had somehow become Louis' new side job.

 

Every night instead of going out with the boys he stayed back at the hotel to spend time with Jamie. It was great really; Louis loved children and it reminded him about when he was younger and had to babysit his sisters. It brought back lots of old memories, and he somehow felt at home while doing that.

 

When they all got home though, everyone stayed in him as much as possible to help him out with everything. They all kind of had their own responsibility with him; Liam was the one to wake up early in the morning to change his nappy, bathe him, dress him and feed him – sometimes with the help of Danielle. They he would keep him occupied while waiting for the rest of them to wake up.

 

Niall and Zayn adored him so they would play with him as much as they could and they had somehow managed to teach him how to walk. He was still a little unsteady and would fall on his ass a lot, but he would just laugh, look at everyone around him and then just get up and run away (which never really went well either).

 

Louis was more like a dad while the other ones were the cool uncles. He was the one Jamie spent the night with, the one to make sure he had clean bottles and clothes all the time and the one that had a list of everything they needed for Jamie all the time and would go out to buy it whenever they ran out. None of them complained though since they quite enjoyed having him around and he was a part of their little family now.

 

But even though things were great without Harry all of them missed the younger boy and could only wish for him to be all right and come back some day.

 

\----

 

Harry knew how to hide – it wasn't the first time he had done it. He knew that people would be looking for him so for a few weeks after he ran away he stayed low. He had found the perfect hiding spot where he knew no one would be looking and he knew when the right time was to come out and find some food was. He cried every night though; he missed his son so much and he couldn't stop thinking about how he was going to miss out on everything in his life; amie's first step, first word, first day of kindergarten, first day of school and everything else important.

 

He knew it was for the best though and it gave Jamie what he deserved, but Harry couldn't help but be a little selfish and think that Jamie should be with him.

 

As the days went by and it became colder and colder he was glad that he wasn't selfish the day he left. Jamie wouldn't have managed to survive in the cold. It wasn't that cold yet – as it was still only the end of summer, but it was much colder than the year before and before he knew it would start to snow and it would freeze horribly. Maybe so much that Harry wouldn't be able to survive either?

 

He wasn't too worried about that though, he would find a way to survive. What he was worried about was how to save up enough money to be able to buy a little present for Jamie's birthday.

 

He had about four months to save up, buy something and figure a way to give it to him without getting caught.

 

\----

 

The boys were all surprised that the media and fans hadn't said a word about Harry's disappearance and the fact that Jamie was still with them. Sure there was still some nasty articles about Harry, but it seemed like they all thought Harry was still living with them and just chose not to show his face much.

 

Neither of them – or anyone else for that matter – had said a word to anyone other than Danielle and the management team about the whole thing, so Louis wasn't surprised when his mum called and asked about it sounding both angry and disappointed. She didn't even give him a chance to say a proper hello before she was yelling at him through the phone

 

“What were you thinking?! You let a homeless boy and his child live with you? Do you know how dangerous it could be?

 

Louis sighed as he put Jamie down on the floor so he could wobble into the living room to the boys and sat down by the kitchen table.

 

“We're fine; he was completely harmless. He's only eighteen mum and we kind of landed him in the hospital in the first place so we kind of owned him. He's had a bad life and we wanted to help him and in return he helped a lot around the house and Jamie's the most adorable child ever; we love having him here. Besides, Harry doesn't live here anymore.”

 

He hoped that his mum would just leave it at that and not ask any questions, but he knew that wouldn't happen; his mum always had questions.

 

“What do you mean he don't live with you anymore? I saw a picture literally minutes ago of you and Jamie on twitter that said that you two were out shopping this morning. Did this Harry kid find a new place to stay? Please don't tell me you bought him a flat? And do you just agree to babysit? You're a busy guy, you should take advantage your time off when you have it.”

 

He was getting a little frustrated to be honest; he didn't actually think his mum would've been so quick to judge – especially not when she hadn't even heard the whole story yet.

 

“Mum, would you please calm down. Everything and everyone is fine, Harry doesn't live here anymore, but Jamie still does.”

 

He thought he could hear a frustrated sigh coming from the other side of the line, but that could just be something he imagined.

 

“I don't understand. Why don't you bring Jamie if you can – because I really want to meet him – and come visit tonight to explain in person. I know it's late, but you can sleep over if you'd like, I'll set up a bed for Jamie as well.”

 

He thought about it for a second and he figured that it was something he could do. It was Saturday after all and he knew that the other boys hadn't been out in ages just because they didn't want to leave him alone with Jamie. But if he left to visit his mum, they could do whatever they wanted without worrying about him.

 

“Sure, we'll be there sometimes later today then. I'll see you soon.”

 

They both hung up with quick goodbyes and Louis went to the living room to tell the boys his plans and then pack a overnight bag for them to bring. Hopefully his mum wouldn't be so worried and angry about the whole thing once he could explain the whole story.


	10. Chapter nine

As promised Louis stood outside the doorstep of his childhood home with an overnight bag and Jamie in his arms later that night. His mum of course didn't hesitate to drag him into a nearly bone breaking hug once she opened the door even though he had his arms full of another human. They were quickly ushered into the house and Louis was yet again attacked by hugs before he even got to take off his shoes. His sisters were super excited to see him and when they let him go and their mum told them to go wash up for dinner, Louis couldn't help but laugh at how Jamie had clung himself on him and was almost crying (but not quite) at all the hugging.

 

“So is this the famous Jamie?”

 

She stepped over to him to take the little boy from his arms so that he was able to take of his shoes and jacket properly while Jay did the same to Jamie.

 

“It is. He's cute isn't he?”

 

Jamie was wriggling in Jay's arms and looking over at Louis with those sad green eyes that reminded him of Harry and his arms was stretched out in hope that Louis would take him back.

 

“He sure is, but I don't think he like me that much.”

 

Louis chuckled and took Jamie back in his arms and let him wriggle around until he settled on his chest.

 

“He likes everyone so just wait. He's just tired because he didn't get to sleep at all on the way up here, but once he gets some rest he'll never leave you alone, you'll see.”

 

Jay couldn't keep her smile off her face when she looked at her son with the little boy in his arms. She always knew that Louis would be a great dad one day and the way he handled his sisters when they were younger proved that. She couldn't have been more proud of his son right now though, he looked like he could be Jamie's real dad.

 

When her four younger kids came running down from the bathroom, she told all of them to go into the kitchen so they could all eat, and told Louis to go upstairs to his old room first to put Jamie to sleep since he looked like he was nodding off any second anyway.

 

She had put one of the girls old bed into Louis' room along with a baby monitor so that they could hear him if he woke up. It wasn't hard to get Jamie to sleep and barely ten minutes later Louis came back downstairs so that he could sit down with his family and eat.

 

Dinner had always been chaotic when he was home; three of the girls had lots of exciting things to tell him and they all talked in unison and made it a bit hard for Louis' to keep up, but he did his best anyway since he didn't want to upset any of them. Lottie however remained quiet for the most part and kept eyeing Louis a few times while eating. She didn't speak up until her three younger sisters had stopped talking and started eating.

 

“Lou, who's baby is it you brought with? Did you become a dad without telling us? We didn't even know you had a girlfriend.”

 

Louis gave her a small smile and swallowed down the food in his mouth before replying.

 

“He's not mine. You'd be the first ones I'd tell if I ever get my own child, I promise. Don't doubt that, okay? He's actually one of my friend's son, his name is Jamie.”

 

“One of the boys? Did Liam and Danielle get a baby? Why didn't anyone tell me?”

 

Lottie sat the looking at him with a huge smile on her face and Louis and Jay couldn't help but laugh at her excitement.

 

“No, not one of the boys, I'm pretty sure you would have known if it was by now; he's over a year old. His name is Harry; he's someone I met a few months back.”

 

He didn't actually want to talk about Harry so he hoped she didn't ask about him, but with his luck she probably would and he had to talk about it.

 

“Why didn't you bring him then? I would love to meet him! Are you babysitting for him?”

 

He tried to think of a way to get out of it, his smile had long disappeared from his face and he just hoped nobody noticed how upset it made him when Harry came up.

 

“Something like that. It's a complicated to be honest. Harry's not around anymore and we're the closest to a family that Jamie's got so he's living with us now.”

 

It became completely silent around the table, the three other girls who had been chatting with each other had stopped talking and had all turned to Louis once they heard about Harry not being around anymore. Daisy was the one to speak up first.

 

“Did Harry die? What happened to him?”

 

All of them looked so sad and Phoebe looked to be on the verge of tears at the thought of Harry being dead. Louis just wished that none of them thought about how it would feel if their dad was the one being dead and not Jamie's. It became completely silent again and it was almost agonizing for Louis; he didn't really want to explain to them how Jamie ended up with them, but he didn't want to lie either and he definitely didn't want to tell them he was dead, so he swallowed hard and decided to go for the truth. He just didn't want to tell them by the dinner table.

 

“Why don't we all just eat up and move to the living room first and mum will bring us some cookies for dessert and I'll tell you okay?”

 

They all nodded and continued with just small talk between him and his mum, the younger girls just wanted to get done so that they could find out quicker. Once they were done they carried their empty plates to the kitchen sink and ran out into the living room to wait for Louis. He took a little bit longer to finish up and once they were sure they were alone Jay spoke up.

 

“Are you gonna tell them?”

 

Louis nodded and stood up to do the same as his little sisters had done only minutes earlier.

 

“Yeah, there's really no point in lying about it and I don't want to tell them he's dead or something horrible like that, because even though I can't know for sure I have a feeling that he's not and that he'll come back one day. What if I told them he were dead and then he decides to come back one day? He can't magically wake up from the dead so it's better to just let them know the truth so that if they meet him one day they'd know about what happened and they'd know to avoid talking about it around him.”

 

Once she had put her own plate in the sink, he walked over to him and hugged him.

 

“I'll be right out with the cookies so don't start telling them anything without me though, I don't really know the whole story either and I want to know.”

 

He hugged her back and walked into the living room where his sisters were patiently waiting for him to come and sit beside them on the sofa. It was a tight fit, but they all managed to squeeze themselves into it somehow.

 

When their mum came back with the cookies Louis started telling them everything from the start. From when they first saw Harry get run over and all the way to the call he got from Harry. He even told them his theory to why Harry had left. They all listened without saying a word and by the time he was done they all looked sad and Louis was almost in tears. He hadn't really thought about the whole thing before since there was always something else to think about, but he missed Harry. He missed having someone to talk to when Niall and Zayn and Liam and Danielle were out on dates and he missed seeing how great Harry was with Jamie. He just generally missed seeing Harry around in his flat all the time since he had gotten so used to it.

 

Once everyone had had time to process the whole story, they all piled closer together so they could hug Louis the best way possible from their position around him.

 

“I'm sure it'll be okay, Lou. He'll come back some day. Maybe he just needed some time alone to get away from all the attention he got from living with you and he obviously thought that it was the best for Jamie to stay with you. I hope he comes back soon though, I can't wait to properly meet him. He sounds so nice.”

 

Lottie looked up at him from behind Fizzy's head and smiled at him and she squeezed his hand that she had somehow grabbed onto. He couldn't have asked for a more wonderful family than the one he had and he was glad that they all understood the situation despite being so young.

 

When they were done hugging, the twins suggested that they all watched a film together and they all ended up watching Bambi (and Louis tried not to think about how Harry had once told him that it was one of his favourite films while growing up).

 

Jamie started crying in the middle of the film so he stepped up to his room to get him while his mum went to heat up a glass of baby food. He hadn't even sat down properly on the sofa again before the little boy had jumped off his lap and over to Phoebe (who had moved to sit on the floor) to tug on her pony tails and laughed after he did.

 

He instantly got along with all of them and he went from one sister to another and then over to Jay once she came back with his food. He didn't hesitate to climb up on her lap and happily ate as the rest of them finished watching the film. It was a great night and Louis didn't regret coming to visit them or telling them the truth about Harry.

 

It helped him not getting too upset about Harry which he was entirely grateful for. 


	11. Chapter ten

Even though it was harder to hide now that some people recognized him Harry still managed to do it. The very first day after leaving Jamie at the One Direction fla he had gone straight to one of his old hiding places where he used to hide when he was afraid someone was going to take Jamie and he didn't leave the place until he was sure people wouldn't recognize him anymore.

 

Leaving Jamie was one of the scariest and upsetting things he had ever done and he had spent most of the time in his hiding place crying. The later it in the year it got, the colder it became and he had to curl into himself to keep in all the warmth he could get and the lack of food and drinks made his whole body weak and sick.

 

Before when he had been with Jamie there had also been times where it took a while for him to get something to eat since Jamie was always his first priority, but he'd always made sure that he at least had something in his stomach – as well as having something to drink, but he didn't dare leave his hiding place, not yet.

 

When he first decided to get up and leave his place after four or five days maybe, he could barely stand up and everything was spinning. Some of the reason was because of his lack of movement the past days, but most of it was because of the lack of nutrition and energy in his body.

 

He knew some people recognized him when he showed his face for the first time after leaving and he could hear people whisper and see people staring at him, but he was sure no one would really bother telling the media or tweeting one of the boys about it. Why would they? They got what they wanted after all.

 

He was far enough away from boys' house and the general area where they or anyone they knew would ever hang out, so he was positive that he wouldn't be found. It didn't mean that he wouldn't go to that part of town though. He went up there at least once or twice a week to just hide a good distance away from their flat. He hoped that he got to see Jamie; just see him really and reassure himself that he had done the right thing. He could feel that he had.

 

Sometimes he'd walk by a news stand and would carefully slide a few of them (that had One Direction on the cover) under his thin coat, just so he could go back to his hiding place and read about what's going on with them. He needed to know where they were and what they were doing and he needed to know where Jamie was and how he was doing. A few times it would say something about him, but not much (mostly just about his absent) and sometimes it would mention Jamie and it was often attached with a cute picture of him. Most of the time he was in the park playing with either Niall and Zayn or Danielle and Liam. Louis was never there, but Harry figured Louis was the one doing most of the work with him at home. Harry would rip out the pictures just to keep them in his pocket.

 

It made Harry happy seeing pictures of his son and he knew that even though he wasn't there, Jamie was happy and having fun. It was such a good thing and even though he wished he could be there and be the one making him happy; he was safe.

 

It didn't mean that he didn't miss him though he missed him a lot and he did read the date on the papers or magazines so that he knew what date it was and knew when Jamie's birthday was coming up. It was only a few weeks away and Harry needed to get a present for him.

 

He didn't have any money which was his problem, all he had was a few changes he had found laying around on the ground and a few occasional coins people would throw into his cup when they passed by him. It wasn't enough for a present – not even close – so he needed to save up.

 

\---

 

One late night when he was walking around in alley behind a café to find some food, he met a woman named Sandra. She was a lot like him, green eyes and curly hair. Her hair was not brown though, instead it was bright red and Harry thought it suited her quite nicely.

 

She was nice and after she had asked him what he was doing behind hercafé and he truthfully told her that he was looking for food, she invited him inside to get a something proper. The inside was lovely; it wasn't busy far from it, but busy enough for being at this side of town. It consisted mostly of people like Harry; people who barely had any money, some of then – Sandra told him later – didn't have a home just like him and she was always happy to help whoever she saw needed it.

 

When Harry had stood up and thanked her profusely for the food and her kindness, she had asked him where he was living. Again, he told her truthfully that he didn't have a place to live and that he'd just find somewhere to sleep for the night before he wandered back to where he usually spent the night.

 

She wouldn't have it though, almost going crazy with the way she talked to him about how insane he was.

 

“You are only eighteen for fucks sake!” she had told him, waving her hands in the air like a monkey. Harry told her that it was fine, that he had done this for a long time and that he knew what to watch out for, but she wouldn't have it; she refused to let him go out of the door of her café and she even got some of the other customers to help her. She offered him to stay with her, where he'd have a roof over his head and his own sofa to sleep on and Harry had tried to refuse said she'd be doing too much, that he didn't want to intrude, but she wouldn't listen. She said he could pay her back by helping her around in the café and that she'd even pay him for his work. That was it for Harry and he couldn't refuse; he needed the money for Jamie's present.

 

They became great friends after that and Harry absolutely loved being around Sandra. She was so nice and friendly to everyone and he felt like he could trust her, so one night, after Harry had been out to buy Jamie a card and his birthday present, he had told her everything that happened. Everything from when he found out about Gabrielle being pregnant to when he left Jamie.

 

She had been a great listener and when he cried, she hugged him and told him everything would be fine, that he'd be back with Jamie in no time at all. When she'd said good night and gone to bed, Harry had sat down on his sofa and written everything he could think of in the card he bought for Jamie. He wrote how much he missed him, how he knew that it would be best this way. He wrote why he did what he did and that he would never forget him, even if Jamie forgot him one day. And of course he wished him a happy birthday. He never said where he was or what he was doing since he knew Louis and the other boys would be reading it.

 

When he was done writing and the present was wrapped with a bow on top of it, he could finally go to sleep with a smile on his face.

 

\---

 

The next day after he had talked to Sandra about taking the day off and explaining why, he gathered up the present and the card and made his way towards the other side of town. It took a good few hours to get there by walking, but it was all worth it if he maybe got to see Jamie while he was there and get to deliver his present.

 

Harry made sure to take all the back alleys and short cuts he could think of and he made sure there wasn't any people around that might recognize him – the same that he always did when he went over there. He climbed fences, crawled under cars and took the back way into the complex where the boys lived. For people who hadn't lived there or didn't know the place, it would be hard to get in that way since you needed a code for the door, but Harry had it written down from when he lived there so it wasn't a problem at all for him.

 

He made as little noise as possible when he walked in and he was very cautious to any sound of people coming, but it seemed to be clear and he made it all the way to the boy's door without getting caught. He could hear people inside; they were talking and laughing and at one point he was sure he could hear Jamie's laugh amongst them all.

 

For a few weak seconds he wanted so badly to knock on the door and give the present in person, but he quickly got rid of the thought; he knew he wouldn't be able to leave again if he did. He kissed the card and the present instead and placed it right outside the door before he knocked on it and ran as fast and as quietly as he could towards the exit. A few tears was making their way down his face when he came out the door, but he quickly dried them off and started to walk back to Sandra's flat.

 

He would be back in two days hoping to get to actually see his son on his birthday, even if only for a few seconds.

 

 


	12. chapter eleven

It wasn't that unusual that they'd get a knock on the door once in a while, but usually they'd expect someone to come over since they'd have to buzz them in from downstairs first so when the knock on the door came Niall was a little bit sceptical about opening it. They'd had people knock on their door unannounced before and when they'd gone to open it it had been a fan (or several) standing on the other side. It frightened him sometimes when he'd been the one to open it as fans could often be unpredictable.

 

When he opened the door this time however he got a little surprised to see that there was no one there. He looked around the hall to make sure that someone wasn't leaving before he could open or hiding around a corner or anything like that because it would be weird for someone to knock on their door, but not be there when he opened. He brushed it off as a fan who just wanted to check if they'd got the right flat and was about to just close the door and go inside when the door bumped into something on the ground. When he looked down to see what it was he saw the card and the present there.

 

It was just a simple box-like present wrapped in a wrapper with cars on it and tied with a red ribbon around it all. The card was on top and when he bent down to see it he could clearly see Jamie's name on the front of it as well as a date. He quickly picked the box up and made sure that the card wouldn't fall down before he took it inside their flat and walked back to the living room where Louis was sat on the sofa with Jamie on his lap and watching some random cartoon.

 

“Who was at the door?”

 

He hadn't turned around to look at Niall and hadn't noticed the present Niall was holding and instead just focusedon stroking Jamie's hair and hoping it would make him fall asleep soon.

 

“No one actually, but this was outside of it though. I think you need to see it.”

 

Louis carefully slipped out from under Jamie and placed him on the sofa around some pillows and blankets so that he could still see the TV and he could walk away from the sofa without much trouble and into the kitchen where Niall had gone.

 

“What is it?”

 

“I think it's a present for Jamie. The date written on the envelope is two days from today, so I'm guessing it might be his birthday then?”

 

“Who's it from?”

 

“I don't know, I haven't actually opened it to see yet. You don't think it's from Harry, do you?”

 

They were both carefully eyeing the card that none of them had dared to touch yet and that none of them really wanted to know who it was from. They knew that chances were that it'd be from Harry and that meant that Harry had just been outside of their flat and that they'd missed him. Louis wished they didn't, wished that maybe Liam or Zayn or even Danielle would've walked in when he was there to catch him out there or just wished Harry wouldn't have left before Niall opened the door.

 

He reached for the envelope without responding to Niall and carefully slid the card out of it; not wanting to break it or anything. It was a cute little card with teddy bears on the front of it and a huge “I LOVE YOU” written across the biggest ones stomach.

 

Niall had moved around the table and was watching when Louis opened the card. It wasn't hard to see who had written it – they both recognized the handwriting and even just reading the first line made it really obvious. Neither of them wanted to read it out loud so they silently decided to just read it quietly to themselves.

 

“ _Dear Jamie,_

 

_I know you can't read this so I'm guessing it's one or all of the boys who's reading this instead, but that won't stop me from writing directly to you._

_I'm really sorry for leaving you. I promise you that I didn't want to, but I know it's for the best for the both of us in the long run. I know Louis, Niall, Zayn, Liam and Danielle will take good care of you – even more than I would have. I love you more than anything else in the world and I would never let anyone hurt you in any way. This is my way of keeping you safe and protecting you. If you'd been with me, I could never guarantee that you'd be safe or not and at least now I know for sure. Maybe someday I'll see you again, hopefully it won't be too far in the future because I miss you like crazy. There's not a day when I don't think about you or what you're doing and I try to read as much as I can about you in the newspapers and magazines. You're getting really famous._

_Just remember that I'll never forget you and I hope that you'll never forget me either even if you're so young now. When you're able to read this please give each of the boys and Danielle a huge hug from me and thank them for everything. Tell them I'm sorry that I left you with them, but that I know that they'll do a great job with you._

_Happy Birthday and I hope you like your present._

 

_Love, your dad.”_

 

The flat was completely silent except from the TV that Jamie was watching. None of them really knew what to say about what they'd just read, but after a few minutes of silence Niall was the first to open his mouth.

 

“So we knew for sure now that it's Jamie's birthday and that we got two days to plan a party for him. We don't need anything huge, he's just turning two after all so just the closest friends and family. I can call my family, you can call yours and maybe Liam and Zayn can ask theirs. Then just Danielle, Lou, Lux, and Tom? And a few others from our crew, and the band of course. Jamie is a part of our family now and he needs a proper birthday party. It'll be great and it's what Harry wanted anyway; for Jamie to have a normal childhood. What do you think?”

 

Louis couldn't deny that Niall was right and that Jamie needed a proper birthday party and that it would be fun for all of them. It would be a way for all of them to properly welcome Jamie into the family even though he's been a part of it for a couple of months already. They didn't need anything huge as Niall said, just family and friends and dinner and cake and presents and a happy boy. He knew that Harry would've been so happy to see it if he was there.

 

“I'll call Zayn and Liam to tell them what's happening and you'll call your parents and brother to get everything sorted with their tickets and what not. It's a bit of a short notice for them to just come all the way from Ireland, but I'm sure it'll be fine.”

 

For the rest of the day they kept on calling their family and friends to tell them what was going on and that they were all invited to a party to celebrate Jaime. They were all happy to be there and it made Louis happy that they really took the time and effort into making Jamie feel like he was family.

 

When Liam and Zayn came home eventually they all sat down to discuss the themes and how they were going to do it. Seeing as Harry's present and card was teddy bear themed, they decided to go for that and they started to look for a place that would bake them a bear shaped cake in such short notice. In the middle of everything else they somehow also decided that they needed it to be a costume party and then proceeded to call everyone they'd invited back and tell them that they needed to dress up at least a little bit as a teddy bear. They all couldn't stop laughing when they imagined how everyone would look in their costumes.

 

After that they discussed if they should buy Jamie a big present all together or five smaller present and they eventually decided on one big present from all of them and one smaller one for each. It wouldn't hurt Jamie to have a lot of presents – he deserved it after all. They made sure that Harry's present were tucked away in the back of Louis' closet until the party and while they continued to plan the party Louis had the hugest smile on his face the whole time. They were going to make Jamie the best party ever and Harry would be so happy to know that his son had a great birthday.

 

And maybe, somehow, Harry would get to know about it, Louis was going to make sure of that.

 


	13. Chapter twelve

Jamie's birthday was a huge success and everything went as planned. Everyone they invited showed up with a lot of presents and plenty of good mood. Jamie was just going from person to person and getting hugs, kisses and birthday wishes from everyone and he had the biggest smile ever while he opened all his presents.

 

Before the party Louis had gone out and bought a teddy bear costume for Jamie to wear and he – along with the rest of the children there – were looking too cute in their costumes. His sisters, Zayn's sisters and Lux had even painted their faces to go with it. He and the boys had also bought a full on costume for themselves while the rest of the grown-ups just opted for wearing bits and pieces of it. It was quite ridiculous to watch to be honest, but they all just laughed it off and enjoyed the party.

 

Louis had made sure to take lots of pictures during the party and posted them on both his twitter and instagram to keep his fans happy. He knew that it would be in some sort of newspaper or magazine the day after just like he wanted; he knew Harry would see it somehow.

 

He was sad that Harry wasn't there to celebrate with them, he honestly thought that Harry would've loved to be there to see Jamie so happy. He would've probably protested about all the gifts that he was given, but then he would just go along with it and smile and be happy because his son was happy and that was all that mattered to him. Louis wished that he would be happy to see that Jamie did get a birthday party at least.

 

When the party was over and all their guests except their mums and Danielle had gone home Louis had put Jamie to bed and went out on the balcony for some fresh air. The costume had been hot to walk around in and he was glad that it was over and that he could take it off – poor Jamie had been sweating so much when he had taken it off him to get him ready for bed.

 

Louis looked out on the city around them them and couldn't stop thinking about Harry being out there somewhere; most likely alone and maybe starving and scared. It frightened him when he thought about it and he tried to imagine how it would've been if it had all been turned around – if he was the one living on the streets when he was only eighteen and not knowing if he'd get enough food to survive for the next week, days even.

 

He was sure he wouldn't survive. He was nothing like Harry; Harry was strong and brave and he would do anything to protect the ones he loved. Louis would do that too – of course, but he wouldn't be any good at it and he admired Harry for his bravery. He just wished that Harry would stop being so scared about what other people thought about him and do what he felt like doing.

 

He knew that Harry wouldn't leave if he hadn't read the article and the comments and he knew that Harry actually enjoyed staying there with them and that he felt lucky to be there. Leaving Jamie was probably the hardest thing he had to do in his entire life – at least it sounded like that on the phone when he called. He understood why though; he knew Jamie was the only person left in Harry's life that still cared about him and wouldn't leave him when they got the chance.

 

He should have told Harry that it would be okay; that he shouldn't believe what pointless people on the internet wrote about him and that they wouldn't follow through with anything they said. He should know that – he had been threatened to be killed several times – yet he's still safe.

 

It isn't easy being in the spotlight all the time – he knows that, but he would've helped Harry as much as possible to make him feel like he belonged there. He wanted Harry to come back so he could tell him that and make sure that he felt safe all the time. He wouldn't let anyone take Jamie from him or do anything with him – he'd protect the both of them.

 

“Hey.”

 

He didn't bother to turn around when Liam came out the door and stood beside him. They stayed quiet for a while just listening to the sounds outside, along with the cars that drove past their building and the tragic from further down town. Laughter and small talk could also be heard from inside of their flat.

 

“You're thinking about Harry, aren't you?”

 

He turned towards Liam and just blinked like he didn't quite catch what he had said. He had though, but he didn't know it was that easy to read him or Liam was just good at reading his thoughts, but then again; Liam was the one to pay attention to everything and know when to bring the topic up to the surface. Niall, Zayn and himself would be lost without Liam – Liam was often the only one who knew what to say to make you feel better.

 

“Is it really that obvious?”

 

Liam chucked a little and leaned in closer to Louis so he could bump their shoulders together.

 

“No, so you don't need to worry. I don't think anyone else but me noticed to be honest, but I can see that you've not been the usual self lately and that you haven't been since Harry left.”

 

Louis sighed. He knew he couldn't hide things from Liam – not even when he wasn't really trying to. Liam noticed everything all the time and he understood Louis better than anyone.

 

“It's just hard, you know? I miss him like crazy and it's weird because I didn't know him for that long, but he fit right in and became a part of our family and I want to help him so bad.”

 

“Lou, we all want to help him. I miss him too and I know Niall and Zayn do as well. I heard them talking about him the other day when they thought they were alone. Zayn was crying for Gods sake! Even Danielle miss him,; she's been trying so hard to find him and she's been calling everyone she knows and asked them to keep an eye open for him.”

 

He knew it was true – that he wasn't the only one who missed him, but he felt like he was just a little closer to Harry than the rest of them since he was the one who visited him in the hospital and made sure he felt right at home when he stayed with them. He's also the one who takes the most responsibility for Jamie even though all of them helps a lot.

 

“You know, I haven't told anyone about this yet – not even Danielle, but I feel like you deserve to know. I hired someone to help look for Harry. I met her at a party last year and I remembered that she used to work for the police a few years ago and she's used to go undercover, so I thought she could help us out. I called her just a few days after Harry left and she agreed to help us. She's out there looking for Harry as we speak.”

 

Louis turned around to look at Liam properly; shock clearly visible on his face. Why hasn't he been informed of that before? Why was this the first time he had heard about it? Harry had been gone for three months for Christ sake, he should've known about it. He deserved to know about it. But then again he should've known it would be something Liam would keep to himself; it was just typical Liam not to tell anyone about something big just in case something went wrong. If no one knew no one would get hurt or disappointed about the result. He was smart like that sometimes.

 

“Have you heard anything from her? Has she found him or at least seen him?”

 

“I don't know, she told me when we had our meeting that she wanted to make it look the most believable so even if she did find him; she wanted to get to know him first and make him feel safe around her so that he would open up to her and then when she knew the time was right, she'd tell me. I'm not allowed to call her so I just have to trust her and wait for her to call first.”

 

“But what if she's just scamming you? Did you pay her already?”

 

“She's not; I trust her. And I only paid her half, that'll cover the expenses she needed to find a disguise or whatever else she needed to have in order to be able to blend right in and make Harry trust her.”

 

“But why won't she let you call her?”

 

“It's just so we won't get caught. What if she was talking to Harry while I called? Or she was in the shower and Harry could see who was calling? Or even worse; answered the call. It's all about being on the safe side and not making Harry run away again. Trust me; she'll call when the time is right I promise.”

 

“I know, I know. I just worry and I really want Harry to be safe.”

 

Liam turned around and leaned forward so he could wrap his arms around Louis and hug him tight – Louis gladly took it and wrapped his arms around Liam as well.

 

“I know you do, but for right now we just have to wait and do the best we can to take care of Jamie while he's gone. That's the best way I know how to help Harry while he's not here to be helped directly.”

 

“Yeah, thanks Li.”

 

“Don't mention it, I'm always here if there's something you need to talk about or if you just need a hug. Remember that okay? Now come on; let's go inside. Our mums are probably long done with cleaning and are sitting in the living room with bottles of wine and sharing embarrassing stories about us.”

 

Louis couldn't help but laugh at that and held tight onto Liam's hand as he led them back inside the flat and into the living room. Liam was for sure one of the best friends he had ever had ever.  


	14. Chapter thirteen

Finding Harry hadn't been as hard as Sandra thought it would be; she had asked a friend of hers to borrow his café for a while so she could pretend to be the owner of it and hire Harry if she got the chance. She had also been able to get a pretty decent flat with lots of space for two nearby. The regular costumers at the café had all agreed to dress and look a little shabby; as if they could look more like they were like Harry.

 

Actually getting Harry to come wasn't hard either; she made sure to stay open at all times and have lot of light out in the back so the bins could be easily seen. Since she had studied his picture and knew what he looked like and she spotted him immediately when he walked past the café and towards the back.

 

When she had gotten him inside and given him food and drinks; she could see how vulnerable he was. There was huge bags under his eyes; he looked worn out and dirty and she was sure she could see some bugs in Harry's hair, but she was going to help him. She made a promise to Liam and Liam pays her for Harry to be all right so she intended to everything she could do to that.

 

She had managed to convince him to stay with her for a while since she intended to make his life the best way she could before she tried to get him back to Liam and the rest. He had tried to leave, but the rest of the guests that had caught on to what was happening blocked him from the door and didn't let him go until he said yes. She even promised him a job and that it would be his way of paying for living with her. She thinks that's what tipped him over and he finally agreed.

 

Having Harry around wasn't bad at all; he was super nice and he helped a lot around the flat and at the café and she had a hard time believing the stories Liam had told her about him was true. If they were she didn't understand why. He was the sweetest boy she had ever met and she had met a lot.

 

She wanted to get to know him better though; to find out his thoughts and what had happened to him from his point of view so when he finally sat down with her and told her about his life and about what he did she understood the situation a lot better – which is why she thought out a plan that would bring Harry back to his son and Liam; they just had to wait for a while before going through with it; she didn't want to just get on with it and make Harry feel unsafe.

 

\---

 

Harry had gone back to the boys’ flat the day Jamie had his birthday, but he hadn't seen his son at all. Instead he had seen different people walk in and out in teddy bear costumes or at least some part of one. He figured (or rather hoped) that they dressed that way because of Jamie's birthday party, but he couldn't be sure. He stayed there for a couple of hours, hidden in the bushes and making sure he didn't get seen by anyone and when he left it was with one last sad look at the flat and disappointment tight in his stomach. He just wanted to see his son for a few seconds on his birthday.

 

The next day when he was working at the café and serving a rather old and regular costumer who was reading the paper; he couldn't help but notice the front page of it. It was a huge picture and even though he couldn't see it that well form the angle he was in he knew the picture was of Louis and Jamie. Maybe they were out yesterday and Harry just missed it?

 

“Excuse me sir? Do you mind if I borrow your paper for a second? There's something in there that I'd like to read.”

 

“Yeah, sure. I'm done with it anyway; was only interested in the comic strips in the first place. You can keep it.”

 

He handled Harry the paper and Harry thanked him and finished up serving him before he decided to take a break so he could read what was written in the paper.

 

“ _LOUIS TOMLINSON AND ONE DIRECTION CELEBRATING JAMIE'S BIRTHDAY_

 

_Louis Tomlinson and the boys of One Direction has recently gotten an unexpected member of their group and was celebrating his two year old birthday this week. Family members and friends were seen walking in and out of their flat dressed in costumes and even the boys were seen out buying them. Tomlinson himself also posted several photos of the night on his instagram as the party went on._

 

_Little Jamie also had his own costume and he was dressed head to toe in a full body bear costume. Isn't he adorable?_

 

_We do wonder though – and I'm sure it's been on a lot of your minds as well – is Jamie's dad still around? We haven't seen him much lately and Jamie always seems to be out of the flat with one of the boys instead of with his own dad. Is he just afraid to come out or is he gone? We think that he isn't around anymore and just left his son with the boys from One Direction just to get an easy way out.”_

 

Harry had tears in by the time he was finished reading. He did not leave his son there because it was an easy way out – he had no choice. He looked around the page where they had put pictures from the party. It looked like a lot of people were there; people he didn't know, but he had a faint clue who was. More tears started pouring out as his eyes landed on a picture of Jamie when he opened his present from him.

 

“Harry, what's wrong?”

 

He looked up as Sandra stepped in, but he made no movement to get up or close the paper.

 

“There's this article about Louis and Jamie and a me and there's a page full of pictures from Jamie's birthday party. I would've loved to be there to see how happy he is in person, but I'm not and I can't ever be.”

 

He cried even more and Sandra sat down beside him so she could comfort him.

 

“Don't say that, Harry. You'll see him again soon and you won't miss any more birthday parties, I promise.”

 

“How do you know? It's not like I can just walk right back to Louis' flat and demand them that I see my son. Or well I could, but It can't. They probably hate me for what I did.”

 

“They don't hate you. I'm sure they want you to come back.”

 

“I'm sure they don't. The only thing I have to go back to is work.”

 

Before Sandra could stop him and continue their talk; Harry had stood up and left the kitchen where he had sat down. He left the paper behind and she picked it up to read it. It was obvious that Harry missed his son a lot and maybe even the One Direction boys as well, but Sandra knew that articles about him were the things that were stopping him. Both Liam and Harry himself had told her about why he left the flat in the first place and what he had been reading.

 

She had told him that it wouldn't happen; that nothing would happen to him or Jamie and that people were just stupid and jealous. She told him that he should've just ignored it, but by the reaction of how he acted today it was very obvious that he still had problems ignoring the media.

 

Sandra knew that the plan she had made had to be done a lot quicker and that doing it on Harry's birthday would be too long to wait. Maybe Christmas would be a better idea? It was only a few months away and that still gave her plenty of time to get to know Harry even better and go through her plan quicker with Liam and the other boys' help.

 

She was positive that it was going to work and that Harry would be convinced that he belonged with them and not on the streets like he thought he did. Because he honestly did, Harry is an amazing person and she understood perfectly well why they hired her to get him back.

 

Harry Styles wouldn't be miserable that much longer; no matter what other people told you. He'd be happy in the end just like he deserved.  


	15. Chapter fourteen

After she had figured out exactly what she wanted to do about Harry she made sure that he was out of the house before she called up Liam and told him that she was coming over. She wrote a note for Harry so he wouldn't wonder and placed it on the kitchen table so he would see it and then she left. She'd never been at Liam's flat or anything near as fancy as she guessed they'd have it, in fact she was quite surprised when Liam called her for help.

 

She'd just met him at a party that she was lucky enough to be invited to and they ended up talking to each other. He had asked her about her life and she'd answered by telling him some details. It wasn't anything big and she didn't think that Liam would actually call her and ask her for a favour like this. Especially not when she had told him that she didn't work anymore. She happily agreed though; he sounded desperate on the phone and she could tell that it was really important to him so it didn't take much for her to accept and it was pretty easy after all.

 

Liam was waiting for her outside the building when she arrived and he told her to drive into the garage and he'd meet her there to lead her up to their flat. She did as she was told and when she stepped out of her car Liam was already in there and they walked together back up to the flat. He told her that he had told Louis, Niall and Zayn about what he had done and that they were waiting in their flat so they could all talk about what they wanted to do.

 

When they got up to the flat she greeted all of them and then they sat down in the living room and she didn't waste any time and said what she wanted to say.

 

“First of all; I want do to this around Christmas. I originally planned to do this at his birthday, but I can see how much he's hurting now and I want to wait that long. It would be a great Christmas present for him and possibly for Jamie as well.”

 

Louis sat a bit straighter up in the chair he was sitting on when she mentioned that Harry was hurting.

 

“So you've met him more than just a few times? Is he okay? Where's he staying?”

 

“He's fine, but as I said; he's hurting a lot because of what happened. Other than that, he's fine. He lives with me so I see him every day, but I can't tell you where it's at. I know you want to see him, but I can't let you do that just yet – I don't think he's ready for it. He's fragile and scared and seeing you so soon would make him pull further away, but I can assure you that you don't have anything to worry about. He has a job now and he's making some money for himself and just this morning he told me that he's already planning what to buy you guys and Jamie for Christmas.”

 

They sat a while longer and discussed the whole plan trough and madesure they got everything right and that everyone got what they were supposed to do for it to go like planned. It was a little less than two months left before Christmas, but it was a lot better to plan ahead of time and make sure everything was exactly like they wanted before they went through with it. This way they could change it if something went wrong or if they had to move the day. When Louis went to look after Jamie – who had been sleeping, but started crying – Niall suggested that they'd think about maybe doing it on Louis' birthday as a Christmas present for Harry and a birthday present for Louis, but they didn't get time to discuss it before Louis came back with Jamie in his arms.

 

When Jamie was more awake and he had been fed and changed on, Niall and Zayn took over from Louis and Louis asked Sandra if they could talk in private as he had something he wanted to ask and didn't want the boys to hear. She said yes and they both headed out to the balcony after Louis had made them some tea.

 

“You're not lying to us are you? Does he really live with you?”

 

“Louis, I know it can be a bit hard to believe me since you've never met me, but trust me; I'm not lying. You should also trust Liam for believing he did the right thing – because he did. Harry is in fact living with me – I managed to convince him the first night we met. He tells me a lot about you, you know. How much he misses you and how nice you were to him. It's great really; he's a great guy and he deserves to be treated right.”

 

“I know, but I can't believe that you found him. We've had people looking for him for ages without luck, how did you do it so easily?”

 

“I knew where to look and I made a plan. Remember that this is not the first time I've done this, I've had to look for runaway teens before and they somehow always go to the same area because they think no one will look for them there. Harry hid for a while though, because he was afraid people would recognize him and he didn't come out until he was sure no one would bother to tell on him. He's a smart kid, but he's also very vulnerable and lonely which makes it easier to get close to him. It could be a good thing or a bad thing since you never really know who you meet, but he's been lucky. “

 

“Do you think your plan will work?”

 

“I do; I just need a little bit more time to get him to trust me a some more and it'll be fine. He trusts me a lot already though so it won't be a problem around Christmas.”

 

Louis turned towards her then from there they'd been standing side by side on the balcony put his cup down on the railing so that he could hug her.

 

“Thank you for doing this. I just miss him a lot and I want him to see Jamie grow up and it means a lot to me and to the rest that you're doing this and bringing him back to us. I appreciate it a lot.”

 

She hugged him back first, but then pulled away so that she could look him in the eyes.

 

“Don't worry about anything, okay? It's going to be okay and you'll have Harry back in no time. Just do what you have to do and let me take care of the rest.”

 

He nodded and they ended up staying out there a while longer to just talk and share some small memories they had with Harry even though it wasn't much to share yet. When the sun begin to go down Sandra figured that it was time to leave so she wouldn't worry Harry too much since he'd been home from work for a couple of hours already, so she hugged Louis and the rest goodbye and made her way back to her flat.

 

Maybe she should talk more to all of the boys except Louis and discuss Niall's suggesting about Louis' birthday. It would certainly be the best birthday present Louis would get.

 


	16. Chapter fifteen

“What do you want for Christmas?”

 

Harry sat at the middle of the living room floor with papers and lists and pens all around him, it was the first time in a long time that he had actually taken time to write down lists of what to buy for people at Christmas and it was the first time that he would buy presents for someone other than his own family. He was probably more excited than he should be, but what made it so special for him this year was that he could buy all the presents with his own earned money. He wasn't only going to buy a present for Jamie this year either; he had written down Louis, Liam, Niall, Zayn and Danielle, as well as Sandra of course. So far he had written down a few things he wanted to buy for Jamie and some suggestions of things he could buy for each of the boys except Louis, but he was far from certain of what to buy and he still had to write something down for Danielle and Sandra. He had stopped Sandra just as she walked through the door and asked her just to get an idea of what to buy for her, maybe she could help him with a present for Louis and Danielle as well.

 

“Oh, you don't have to buy me anything. As long as you're free on Christmas Eve and want to spend it with me; I'm fine.”

 

Harry couldn't help himself and let out a small giggle – of course he was free on Christmas Eve, where else was he supposed to go?

 

“Of course I'm going to buy you something, you've done so much for me that it's the least I can do to thank you! And I'm free on Christmas, it's not like I can just choose where I want to go. Would've chosen you anyways.”

 

Sandra sat down on the sofa above him and let herself sink into it before she replied with a big smile.

 

“Great! I have a surprise for you and I'm looking forward to give it to you. I'm sure you're going to love it.”

 

"A surprise? What kind of surprise?"

 

"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you now, would it? You just have to wait and see. It's only about a month until Christmas anyway; I think you can wait that long."

 

Harry noticed the sly smile she had on her face, a smile that made her look suspicious. She had said he was going to love it, but looking at her smile he wasn't so sure. He decided to just ignore it for now.

 

"It's not fair of you to tell me that now though, it makes me more nervous in trying to find something good for your present – something that can live up to that."

 

"Don't worry about it. I think that seeing your reaction to your present will be a present enough for me anyway. I swear; it's the best present I have ever given someone my whole life. I just know that you're going to be thrilled about it. And the best thing about it is that you're not the only one getting happy about it."

 

As soon as she spoke the last words she instantly regretted it. She knew she over shared and she knew Harry caught on to it straight away. She couldn't help it though, she was just so excited about it.

 

"What do you mean? Who else is going to be happy about it?"

 

Harry frowned, this was sounding more and more suspicious and he was sure he wasn't going to like whatever she had planned for him. He hoped it wasn't a party of some sorts, he always hated parties unless it was for a birthday.

 

"Me of course! I just told you a few seconds ago that I'm going to be happy about it as well."

 

He didn't buy it – not in the slightest, but again; he decided to just let it pass and let her have her fun. What was the worst that could happen?

 

"Oh yeah, sure, sorry. I'm a bit slow today; I've been up since early this morning trying to write this list of presents to buy. So far I've gotten two for-sure presents, and they're both for Jamie. I still have seven more people to decide for and maybe a couple more for Jamie. I've always hated buying Christmas presents, and now I remember why."

 

Sandra stood back up from the sofa and grabbed her keys. She had an idea about what to do with Harry's present problem and she had to do it right away.

 

"I'm sure everything will be fine, I'm pretty sure that they'll be happy with whatever you choose to buy for them; don't worry about it so much!"

 

She wasn't expecting a reply and were already about to open the door to leave when Harry spoke up and made her stop.

 

"Thanks Sandra. Where are you going by the way? Didn't you just walk in?"

 

"Yes I did, but I just remembered that I forgot to go to the store, which is why I left the house earlier in the first place. Silly me. Do you want anything?"

 

She just wanted to leave as fast as possible so that she would have plenty of time to do what she wanted to do and do some shopping without it being too late when she got home. She loved spending time with Harry and she would stay with him if she didn't have something much more important to do that would make Harry very happy in the end.

 

"No I'm fine, thanks. But if you could go into a few stores for me and bring home some catalogues that would be great. I could use it for a bit of inspiration."

 

"Will do. I'll also think about something that you could buy for each of them and I'll help you when I get back, okay? Shouldn't be too long, but I might head over to the café to sort a few things out as well. So don't expect me home too early. I'll bring some dinner on the way back and we can work on your list while we eat. Bye!"

 

She hurried out of the house as soon as she could so that Harry wouldn't interrupt her once again and fished out her phone. She just hoped that whoever she tried to call would answer and wasn't busy.

 

\---

 

As soon as Sandra closed the door Harry was left alone and confused at what just happened. The whole conversation he just had with Sandra just seemed suspicious and Harry didn't like it. She had something weird planned and it wasn't something Harry looked forward to know about. What was she planning though? If it was a big party, who would she invite? It's not like Harry knew anyone except her and the One Direction boys.

 

Or well; technically he knew a lot of people, but they all hated him and he was sure Sandra didn't know who they were, not that they would ever spend Christmas with him.

 

Anyway, he needed to finish his list. He had already written down a three wheeled bike and a rocking horse for Jamie as certain gifts he wanted to give him, but he also had a few other small toys written down that he wasn't sure if he was going to get yet.

 

He had also written down various household items for the boys – kitchen items especially, since he had once lived with them and he knew that they didn't have much as they preferred to eat take out. He wasn't sure if he was going to get it though, he was afraid that it might sound a bit rude. Maybe the catalogues Sandra would bring home would help him and maybe Sandra herself had a few great ideas.

 

For now though – he needed a break and some lunch. Maybe he could just give the boys some baked goods instead of buying them something they'll probably never use?  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If the statistics for this is anything to go by, there's actually quite a few people reading this (i hope), so if there is, I would really love if you commented and told me what you think of this so far (and maybe what you hope and think is going to happen. I do have some sort of plan, but I can still use some inspiration (and a little bit of motivation maybe)).


	17. Chapter sixteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think anyone who read the last thing I posted (that I've now deleted) thought that I'd be this quick with a new chapter. I know I didn't. But somehow at 5 am in the morning after drinking a cup of coffee (that I don't even like) with a lot of sugar and eating a kind of disgusting sickly sweet candy thingy, ideas just came pouring in and I just had to write.  
> It didn't stop on only one chapter either, I've got two more chapter already written up and about to write another one. There's not many chapters left, I don't think. In my head at least after the two chapters I've already written up, there's maybe two or three more chapters including an epilogue to go, but I can't be sure before I starting writing everything up. There's a huge possibility that it might go longer, but not much longer. 
> 
> Anyway thanks for being patient with me! 
> 
> And thanks to [Erin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolentEcstasy/profile) for betaing for me!

By the time December 24th rolled around Sandra was buzzing – both from excitement and nervousness. In the weeks leading up to this day she, the One Direction boys (except Louis) and Danielle (and Lottie one time) had had secret meetings to plan this day perfectly; making sure everything would be perfect for both Harry and Louis. Although she was nervous that it would backfire and that they'd both hate it. Well she was pretty sure Louis would love it, it was Harry she wasn't so sure about.

 

When she finished her shower and stood in front of the mirror, she couldn't help but smile at herself and went through their plan for maybe the fiftieth time the last couple of days; starting with how she would explain to Harry that he would get his present a day early.

 

It had been tricky coming up with it – though now that she thought about it she had to laugh. They'd spent hours going back and forth with ideas to what to tell him and suggestions like "I can't celebrate with you tomorrow" to "You have to work tomorrow" had been only two of the many, many they'd come up with, but they had all finally agreed to one as simple as the one she was thinking about.

 

After she was done just looking at herself in the mirror she was almost all the way dry, all she had to do was just quickly go over her body with the towel she had been holding and wrap it around her head. She then brushed her teeth and put on a big t-shirt before she exited the bathroom.

 

Harry was already up and sitting by the kitchen counter watching the kettle as if it would boil the water for his tea any quicker. She had seen him do that a lot in the time she had been living with him. She knew he could barely focus in the morning if he didn't get at least one cup of tea before he spoke. At first she thought it was strange that he needed that cup as he had been living so long on the street without easy access to tea, but she figured that he'd probably got a hold of a cup somehow. Now she just thought it was amusing.

 

She just walked up to the counter and sat down beside him barely holding still as she waited for Harry to pour the water into two cups and adding their tea into it. It took another five minutes before Harry finally spoke.

 

"If you're trying to hide your excitement from me; you're shit at it. Could tell by the way you laughed in the bathroom when I woke up. What's up?"

 

She watched as he took another sip from his tea and waited until he swallowed before she answered.

 

"I'm not trying to hide it; I just figured it was too early to show it as you hadn't had your tea yet. But since you asked; I'm exited because it's Christmas Harry and you're getting your present today! I've been waiting for this day for weeks."

 

Harry frowned and looked down at his watch and tapping it a few times, probably to make sure it hadn't stopped the day before. It hadn't.

 

"But it's only the 24th; we aren't supposed to open presents until tomorrow."

 

"I know, but I can't wait any longer. I don't care what day it is – you'll get it today. Did you know that in Norway, they open their presents on the 24th? Just pretend we're there for the day and you better get a move on so you'll be ready. Wear something nice – we're going out."

 

She finished off the rest of her tea in one gulp and hopped off of the chair to head to her room to get properly dressed and then head out to take care of some last minute preparations.

 

"But I was supposed to go out and deliver my presents to Jamie and the boys today, will I have time to do that before what ever you have planned happens?"

 

She grinned at herself for a second before losing her grin and dropped her head out of her bedroom to look at Harry.

 

"Don't worry about it; we'll deliver them sometime today after you get your surprise."

 

When she was properly dressed and ready to head out, her grin was back on her face when she walked out of the bedroom to find Harry sitting just where she left him. He looked more confused than when he checked his watch earlier.

 

"Come on up you go. The clock is ticking and I'm expecting you to be ready when I'm back in a few hours. I'll bring back lunch!"

 

She didn't close the front door until she heard him getting up and head for the bathroom. Everything was going just as planned.

 

\---

 

On the other side of town Liam was running around their flat making sure everything was perfectly in order. The party didn't start for a while, but this was a big day for all of them – especially for Louis and Harry – and he wanted everything to be perfect. He was glad he was alone doing it, Niall and Zayn left with Jamie just an half an hour earlier and Louis was spending the night at a hotel with Lottie after she came over the day before begging for a day with just the two of them. Louis had suggested that they'd just stay at their flat, but Lottie had insisted on booking an hotel room, just like they had planned. Her brother wasn't too happy about staying at a hotel so close to his own home, but he was never able to say no to any of his sisters.

 

Liam knew who it was when there was a knock on their door and he made sure the scarf Lottie "forgot" when they left yesterday was placed just where she left it on the way to open it. Sandra was practically bouncing by the time he opened the door and she didn't waste any time walking past him and into the flat. She had been there so often the last few weeks that she didn't need to wait for an invitation.

 

"How's it going?"

 

Liam closed the door and followed her into their apartment and sat down beside her on the sofa, where she'd already settled.

 

"Everything is going according to plan; Niall and Zayn are out with Jamie and going to pick up Niall's family from the airport. Louis is still sleeping according to Lottie who texted me a few minutes ago and Danielle is out picking up all the cakes and food we ordered for today. How'd it go with Harry?"

 

She sat up on the sofa and turned to face him with an excited smile on her face.

 

"It went great I think. He was confused as hell at first, had to check his watch to make sure he didn't get the date wrong, but he went along with it in the end. He was a bit hesitant because he was planning on delivering your presents today, but I told him not to worry about it and that his presents would make their way to you sometime today. He went to get ready when I left."

 

Liam had to smile at that, none of them was sure about just telling Harry that she was excited about how his present was going to work. They thought it wouldn't be easy and he wouldn't go along with it. Apparently they were wrong.

 

"So he has no problems with it?"

 

"Nope, not that he told me at least. Who would protest about not having to wait another day for presents though? I mean I know I wouldn't. When's everyone going to be here?"

 

He wouldn't protest either and he'd be lying if he said that he hadn't already gone trough all of the presents under the tree that had his name on it trying to figure out what he would get. It sounds childish and he knows that, but that's fun about Christmas in his opinion.

 

"Niall, Zayn and Jamie should be back any minute with Niall's family and Danielle should be here soon as well. The rest of our families should be here around two to help get everything ready. Lou and Lux should probably be here around the same time. I'm going to fill everyone in on the plan once they get here. They already know that it's a surprise party for Louis and that they shouldn't say anything to him or post about it on social media. I'll text Lottie once everything is ready so she can come back with Louis. Won't be until you're close with Harry though, I don't think having everybody quiet for too long while he stands right in front of them will work. We'll make sure Jamie is taking a nap while it's happening."

 

She bounced on the sofa before she stood up – the smile never leaving her face.

 

"Great, sounds like everything is going like we planned. I'll be going then, need to pick up lunch for Harry and get back home to make sure he's ready. I'll text you when we're on our way."

 

She hugged him once he stood up and went for the door. The moment she opened it, Niall and Zayn walked in with Niall's family right behind them. Jamie was being held by his mum and laughing at the facial expressions she was making at him. Niall was the first to notice Sandra.

 

"Oh, hey Sandra! Did everything go well with Harry?"

 

"Yeah, he's getting ready as we speak. I just stopped by to check how it was going here before I went to pick up lunch for Harry and I. I'll see you guys later!"

 

They all watched her leave before going inside the flat, Liam greeting Niall's family and bringing them up to speed on their plan.

 

\---

 

Once Sandra was out of the building and on the way home, she tapped her fingers against the steering wheel as she drove. Everything was going well so far and she hoped that it would stay that way for the rest of the day.

 

And she wished with all her heart that Harry would love it and not be mad at her once he found out that this was all planned from the very beginning, from before she found him to this day.

 

Harry couldn't hate her for it though, could he?

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a heads up (written several days after this was posted): I've been through this entire fic for the last few days and in chapter 14 (I think it was) I noticed something that made me a little disappointed that I missed. At the end of the part where Harry's talking to Sandra about the presents and Sandra leaves to go "shopping", I had written that she had a plan that could help Harry with his presents and that she was calling someone.   
> Unfortunately I've completely forgotten what her plan was and who she was calling and it's really annoying. I thought about changing it as the reason I've been going through the fic was to edit and change a few things. Though I haven't changed anything that's worth going back to read again; it's just been a few spelling and grammar errors that I found. 
> 
> That's why I'm hesitant to change that part as it would actually change quite a bit. I'm five chapters a head of this and have last chapter and the epilogue already ready in my head so going back to change it now would be hard.   
> My only other option is that we should all just pretend that she was calling Liam and asking him what they're favourite treats are, as that would actually be a little relevant to the next chapters. 
> 
> I bet some of you noticed my mistake and was wondering, but I hope I didn't confuse you too much and that it'll be okay in the end! 
> 
> (Btw as I said I'm five chapters ahead of what's posted here and have the last chapter and the epilogue written in my head. That means that this fic will be 22 chapters long, 24 if you count the prologue and epilogue. So this fic is practically done already, I just have to write the last two parts. After nearly three years of writing this I can finally say that I finished it! I can't wait for you to read it all!)


	18. Chapter seventeen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You guys have no idea how exited I actually am to post this and I can't wait to get the rest out as well. It's weird, but getting this done after three years of working on it is very satisfying. If you haven't already noticed this will end at chapter 22 (or 24 depending on how you see it). I'm very happy with how it turned out. All that matters now is that everything gets betaed and posted. I hope you enjoy!

Harry didn't think he'd seen Sandra this exited in the time he had known her. And he wasn't sure if he was completely comfortable getting her gift. He didn't deserve something so special that it made someone that excited to give it to him. He didn't deserve a present at all, in his opinion. He didn't particularly want one either to be honest, he just wanted to give.

 

But nevertheless he did what Sandra had told him and went to the bathroom when she left the house. He knew that she didn't leave until he had closed the bathroom door, the front door never closed before that so he didn't have a choice either way.

 

He wasn't sure why he had to get ready that early, he didn't need hours to get ready. Him getting ready consisted of a shower, brushing his teeth and getting dressed, that was basically it. On occasion he'd try to tame his curls a little bit by adding some product in it. It would be whatever he could find really, anything Sandra had available in the bathroom.

 

When he had finished getting ready he knew that he probably had to wait a good while before Sandra would be back, he didn't know how many times that he checked that his presents were ready to be delivered. They were, just like they were the other times he had checked, but he liked checking. Everything needed to be perfect, his son and the boys deserved it.

 

He had bought Jamie a few toys, a pair of shoes and some new clothes. He'd also made him a personalised card to go with the gift, making sure to write how much he missed and loved him, much like he had written to him on his birthday. He hoped the boys would give them to him once he was old enough to understand.

 

As for the other presents he had decided to bake them something like he had thought of a few weeks before, because really, what do you buy for someone who has absolutely everything and have so much money that they could buy what they didn't have? He wanted to make it as personal as he could, so he went with baking. He had spent the entire day before baking everything he knew would be good. It had been a while since he had been in a kitchen baking something, but he had a few recipes that he could make in his sleep. There was a great variety of cupcakes, cookies and truffles. Along with that a few jars with both caramelized nuts and honey glazed nuts. He had hoped to give them all each individual presents as well, but he couldn't think of anything so it would just have to do. He hoped the boys loved it.

 

Of course he didn't forget to make a few extra batches for himself and Sandra, so while he waited for her to come back he grabbed one of the cupcakes and made himself another cup of tea. He sat down on the kitchen where he had been sitting before and started reading over the card he had been writing for the boys. He had originally planned to write them all a card each and he had tried, he had written his card for Louis, but it just sounded so messed up that he had scrapped it and wrote a card for all of them instead, at least they wouldn't think he was in love with any of them, because he wasn't.

 

Anyway, he really liked the card he had written for the boys, it wasn't that long and it was simple. He just thanked them really, told them how sorry he was and how much he missed them. He also added that he hoped they wouldn't forget him and made sure that Jamie at least knew about him and knew how sorry he was. He was sure they wouldn't let Jamie forget him though, he knew that they weren't that horrible. They proved they weren't horrible the day they showed up at the hospital even though they didn't know him. And also when they took care of his son and took both of them in when they didn't have anywhere else to go. They were wonderful people really, he hoped everyone knew that.

 

He had just made sure all of the presents were perfect for the second time that day when Sandra walked in the door. The excited smile she had when she left that morning was still there, but bigger and she had a bag of what he assumed was take out. She did say she was going to bring back food.

 

"Oh great, you're ready. I thought we should eat before we leave, I'm not sure when we'll eat next. And then I just need to change into something nicer and freshen up my make up. Shouldn't be to long before we're able to leave."

 

He just smiled at her and went to grab some plates and cutlery. While she dished the plates up, he filled up two glasses of water for them to have with their meal.

 

He wished he could at least get a hint of what they were doing, but he knew that would never happen.

 

Once they had eaten and Sandra was ready, they left the house. Making sure they had all of Harry's presents with them and safely in the car before they drove. Once they were in the car and buckled up, Sandra handed him something.

 

"Here put this on. And make sure you can't see anything."

 

He looked at what she was holding in her hands and then back up at her face. She wasn't serious was she?

 

"A blindfold? Are you serious?"

 

She just nodded excitedly and practically forced it into his hands. She kept staring at him and waited for him to take it, which he did eventually.

 

"Come on, put it on."

 

He did, making it at tight at he could get it without it hurting. He was pretty sure she knew he wouldn't be able to see anything through the thing, but he confirmed he couldn't when she asked him.

 

Everything was just pitch black and he was starting to get a little scared, but he trusted Sandra.

 

She kept talking to him the whole ride, ensuring him that everything would be worth it. That he just needed the blindfold so that the surprise wouldn't be ruined before it could be delivered properly.

 

The car stopped after a drive that seemed to take forever and he could hear Sandra leave the car before the door on his side was opened a few seconds later. She grabbed his arm and helped him out, telling him that he should trust her and follow her lead, that she wouldn't lead him anywhere that wasn't safe. He just followed the instructions she was giving him, stepping up when he needed to and standing still when she told them they were in an lift.

 

Once they stepped out of the lift he was lead forward a few steps and then he could hear a door opening and they walked further forward. He had no idea where they were and he couldn't hear a single thing either. What the hell was going on?

 

"Okay, we're here Harry. Just stay there for a second okay? Don't remove your blindfold. Nothing will happen, trust me. Just stay there."

 

She might not see his panic, but in his head he was panicking big time.

 

\---

 

Louis wasn't stupid, not in the slightest. He had known the second Lottie had stepped into the flat the day before. The way she and Liam kept eyeing each other, like they were trying to communicate without speaking. Add to the fact that they couldn't stay in their flat. If it had been any other normal day, Lottie wouldn't mind staying there. She loved the other boys and quality time with her brother also meant with the boys. They were her brothers as well, in a way. And don't think he didn't noticed how she conveniently "forgot" her scarf when they left the flat either. She hadn't said anything about it yet, but he knew it would come once Liam said it was clear. She had been awake for the last hour texting him and she thought he was asleep otherwise she would have said something to him a while ago. He just thought he'd drag it out a little bit more, he wasn't sure she knew how to stall him long enough before they went back to the flat because they needed to get her scarf. They were obviously throwing a surprise party for him, what else could it be?

 

He must have fallen back asleep at some point though, because the next thing he knew was something jumping on top of him and yelling his name.

 

"Would you get up already, it's almost noon and I've been awake for so long and it's getting boring. Also I'm hungry so I ordered room service. We also need to get ready soon, I have one last thing I'd like to do while I'm here, but we need to go over to your flat first because I forgot my scarf there yesterday."

 

See.

 

When the knock on the door came and she jumped off of him and walked over the door without giving him a chance to say something.

 

"Oh, and by the way, happy birthday!"

 

Yes, a happy birthday to him indeed. The party better be good, because he wasn't particularly fond of surprises.

 

They ate in silence for the most part, watching a not that funny talk show on TV while they did. He was getting a bit curious at this point about what was going to happen today. It wasn't the first time anyone had thrown a surprise party for him, but in the years he had known his band mates, they had never done it, not for him or anyone else. There was no point really, it was hard to hide something like that from each other. Apparently though, they thought they could hide this from him.

 

He guessed he just needed to play along, if they tried so hard to do this that they needed to have his sister involved, they must have something special planned. Maybe they got David Beckham to be there? They knew he'd been dying to meet him.

 

Once they had finished eating, Lottie gathered their plates to put outside the door and told him to go and get ready and to hurry up. They were apparently on some kind of schedule that they needed to keep, and as much as he wanted to ask what was going on, he didn't and just did what he was told.

 

He never really needed long to get ready, just the basics and that didn't change today. He did the things he would usually do on a normal day and left the bathroom only an half and hour later to see Lottie properly dressed and all packed. She wasn't dressed in anything really fancy, but he could still see that she was dressed to go to a party. He just smiled to her and didn't comment on anything else beside how nice she looked.

 

Not long after that they were checked out of their hotel and headed towards his flat to pick up her "forgotten" scarf. Once they drove into the garage he could see in the corner of his eyes that she was texting someone. It was probably Liam and she was most likely telling him that they had arrived and would be there in a few minutes.

 

If he wasn't so focused on what he thought was going in he would have noticed all of the familiar cars parked in the garage, but they never caught his eye.

 

Just a few seconds after they were properly parked, they were in the lift up towards the flat. He picked this time to complain about going all the way back here to pick up something she probably had millions of at home and could pick up another time.

 

"I could've gotten you a new scarf, you know? That way we wouldn't have to drive over here if you still had something you wanted to do in the city."

 

She just shrugged as they exited the lift.

 

"Nah, it doesn't matter, there's plenty of time. Besides this is my favourite scarf. It's the one you gave me for my birthday earlier this year. The one you bought me on tour somewhere. It can't be replaced."

 

They were by the door now and he pulled out his key to open it. It was completely silent inside and he was sure he knew what was coming to him before he even opened it.

 

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be replaced though, I'm just saying that you could just have gotten a -- Harry?"  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm very sorry for the cliffhanger, I just couldn't help myself. 
> 
> And also thanks to [Erin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolentEcstasy/profile) for betaing.


	19. Chapter eighteen

Harry could hear the voices long before it actually came into whatever room he was in, but he couldn't fully pinpoint where he'd heard the voice before it actually said his name. Was that who he thought it was?

 

He was frozen on the spot and he was pretty sure his heartbeat could be heard in the room.

 

He was well aware that he probably should react somehow, maybe take off his blindfold so that he could actually see what's going on. To see where he was and why Louis was there, but he couldn't. He couldn't move at all and he could feel himself tipping over a little bit.

 

"Harry?"

 

His name was spoken again and now he was pretty sure he knew who had spoken to him. What the hell is going on? Where is he? How did this happen? Is Sandra still here? How did she get him here?

 

He wasn't prepared to be touched and when he was he actually did fall over and would have probably landed hard on the ground if he hadn't been caught around the waist.

 

He took a few seconds to make sure he was steady on his feet and wouldn't fall over again. He felt the arms around his waist hold onto him a little tighter, probably doing the same thing he was. When he felt like he could stand again, he finally took off the blindfold.

 

He couldn't properly see anything as his eyes struggled to focus. He knew that he wasn't facing Louis, so he wasn't expecting to see him when he took off the blindfold. In fact, he wasn't expecting to see anyone, so he jumped further back into Louis' arms when the first thing he could see was a bunch of people grinning at him.

 

He had a pretty good guess to who all of them were, but the only people he knew were Liam, Danielle, Niall, Zayn, and Sandra. There was one person missing though, and he couldn't help feel a little bit disappointed even though there was probably no reason to be.

 

What felt like hours passed by at nobody dared to say a single word. Harry still hadn't turned around, Louis still hadn't let go of his waist and none of the people in front of him were still grinning. It kind of freaked him out. He decided he should be the one to break the silence.

 

"What's going on?"

 

His voice was raspy and dry, like it hadn't been used in ages. It only took a few seconds for someone to push a glass of water into his hands. He hadn't even heard anyone move around yet. He looked up properly to thank whoever gave it to him and was met by a girl who he knew was Louis' sister. She just smiled and winked at him before moving to stand by the rest of the crowd. He and Louis were the only ones standing in the middle of the room.

 

It looked like everyone in front of him wanted to answer him, all of them opening their mouths and looking around like they weren't sure they should. Sandra was the one who actually did.

 

"Harry, I don't know if you're angry with me or not right now, but I had to do this. You're such an amazing person and you don't deserve anything that's happened to you. From the day I've met you I've seen how much you miss Jamie and also how much you miss the boys. And even though you kept telling me you were fine, I know you really weren't and that you wouldn't be until you got to see your son again."

 

She took a deep breath before she continued.

 

"There's something you don't know about me, but I won't tell you right now since it's something you deserve to know in private, so we'll talk about it later. I just want to know that I did everything I did for you, because you deserve it. I've had this day planned for weeks and I wanted it to be special. I was originally going to wait until your birthday, but I couldn't see you so miserable any more. I didn't want you to hurt any longer."

 

Harry had so many questions running around in his head that it was making him dizzy. There was so much he wanted to ask and say and probably yell, but there was only one thing that was really important to know right now and he asked it once he was sure Sandra was done speaking.

 

"Where's Jamie?"

 

The lack of his son had him a little worried. All of these people he hadn't seen in months or never seen at all was standing in front of him, but the one person he wanted to see the most wasn't there. Why wasn't he there? He could feel Louis stiffen behind him, probably expecting to turn around to at least look at him. He wasn't ready to do that yet.

 

"He's in the bedroom taking a nap. He's probably ready to wake up soon. Do you want me to get him for you?"

 

Harry could only nod as he watched Danielle walk towards Louis' bedroom. It was good to know that he hadn't been sleeping alone.

 

\---

 

The second he had seen who was standing in his flat his mind had gone blank. All of the things he had wanted to say to Harry when he finally got to see him had just disappeared. Harry was standing right there, in front of him, in his flat.

 

He could see Harry freeze and start to tip backwards a bit, so he stepped forward so that he could be there to catch him if he did fall. When he was sure he wasn't going to he stepped further forward. Harry hadn't said a word yet and he still had the blindfold on, so Louis took a chance and spoke his name again.

 

"Harry?"

 

When he touched Harry to get his attention Harry did actually fall backwards, but he was right there to catch him and helped steady him. He took it as a good sign that Harry didn't pull away or stiffen in his arms. In fact, he was sure that Harry leaned into him a little but, but he couldn't say for certain. He couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed when Harry didn't turn to look at him though.

 

The silence in the room was almost unbearable, no one knew what to say and he let out a sigh of relief when Harry spoke first. His voice was raspy and Louis immediately turned to his sister to tell her to get him a glass of water. She was already way ahead of him and had almost reached Harry by the time he had turned his head.

 

Sandra was the first one of the crowd to speak since he stepped into the flat and he agreed with everything she told Harry. He hoped he got to tell Harry the same thing soon.

 

His gut twisted when Harry didn't turn to look at him at all before he asked for Jamie. He had looked at all the other people in the room except for him. He knew Jamie was Harry's first priority and he fully understood that, but he couldn't help but feel a little bit selfish that he didn't get to see those beautiful green eyes that he hasn't see in a long time.

 

He was about to pull away and give Harry some space with Jamie when he felt something holding onto his wrist, stroking it for a few seconds before it disappeared so that he could let go and Harry could reach forward to take his son into his arms.

 

No words were spoken, but Louis knew that it was sign that they'd talk later, in private. And he could deal with that, at least he knew Harry didn't ignore him. Besides, watching Harry cry and hugging his son as tight is something Louis would never forget.

 

If all of the people who thought Harry didn't deserve to be a father were there to see the scene happening in front of him, they would change their mind in a heartbeat.

 

Harry Styles had to be the best father he'd ever seen and the most beautiful person to step into his life so unexpectedly.  


	20. Chapter nineteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to [Erin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolentEcstasy/profile) for betaing for me!

The seconds he laid eyes in his son he could see that he was being recognised. If he was being recognised as his dad or as just someone he'd seen before he wasn't sure, but he was being recognised, which was good enough for him.

 

Jamie made no resistance when he took him into his arms and he hugged him back as much as he could when Harry hugged him. It felt great finally having his son in his arms again and the feeling of his son hugging him back was just indescribable.

 

Everyone around them had started talking quietly to each other, but Harry paid no attention to them, to busy catching up on what he'd missed. He was here with his son in his arms again finally, he didn't have time to focus on anything else yet. Maybe later.

 

He wasn't sure how long he had just stood in the middle of the living room floor clutching Jamie like it was the last thing he did, but when Jamie murmured something he couldn't quite catch the room got quiet.

 

"Wait –"

 

_Niall_

 

"Did he just?"

 

_Zayn_

 

"I think he did."

 

_Liam_

 

"He did!"

 

_Danielle_

 

Harry could hear the excitement in everyone's voices and finally opened his eyes and pulled away from Jamie so that he could look at the boys and girl in front of him.

 

"What?"

 

They were all grinning and just seconds away from jumping around it looked like. He must've looked hilarious to them, the way his face scrunched up in confusing the more he looked at each of them.

 

"Harry. Did you hear what he just said?"

 

He looked back down on his son in his arms and was met by eyes much like his own and a huge grin. Had he said something? Did he just miss his son's first words? He couldn't. This couldn't be the first time Jamie had spoken, could it?

 

"No, not really. It wasn't his first words, right? Please tell me it wasn't."

 

At first he felt disappointed and angry at himself that he missed his first chance to hear his son talk, but when he looked at Louis again, he could see that he didn't miss the first worlds ever spoken by his son at least.

 

"No, he has spoken before. Just random words here and there, mostly just our names and repeating things we've said. He can't speak fully yet though, but that'll come soon. Anyway, he's never said that word. At least none of us has heard him say it."

 

He was even more confused now, what could his son had said that was so special that everyone in the room looked like they were ready to throw confetti at him?

 

"What did he say?"

 

He blinked at all of them, hoping they wouldn't waste too much time telling him. It must've been something huge for all of them to look at him like that.

 

"I can't believe you didn't catch that, he's right by your ear and we were all talking. He'll probably say it again soon."

 

Trust Louis not to tell him straight out, always having something else to say.

 

"Louis, just tell me what he said please."

 

Louis' huge smile got even larger and Harry thought he was about to be attacked by him very soon.

 

"'Dada'. That's what he said. Which sounds an awful lot like daddy so I'm pretty sure he just called you daddy. Which also means that he remembers who you are."

 

Harry was stunned, how on earth could he miss that? His son just called him daddy for the first time and even though he was right there he freaking missed it. How is that even possible?

 

In his shocked, confused and somewhat angry state he had totally forgot to hold onto his son in his arms and if it hadn't been for Louis again, he would probably have dropped him before he realized.

 

"Woah! Let's go sit down, okay? If not, it won't be long before your bones just melt and you collapse on the floor in a big puddle. Then nobody would be able to save you."

 

He couldn't help the loud laugh that he let out and soon enough everyone in the room was laughing. It made him realized just how much he had missed these people and just how much he had missed in his son's life.

 

Don't get him wrong, he still think he made the right decision leaving, but right now he regretted doing it more than everything else. He reminded himself to thank Sandra whenever he got the chance to talk to her in private. He still needed an explanation for all this as well, but that would come later. Right now he still wanted to focus on his son in his lap. And if he focused a little extra on the feeling of Louis sitting so close to him that both their sides were touching, then so be it.

 

He looked back down at his son once everything had calmed down and his son was still looking up at him and laughing like it was the best thing he had heard in his life.

 

"Did you really just call me dada? Want to say it again so I could hear?"

 

The first few seconds were just him holding his breath and hoping that Jamie would actually say something and Jamie just looking at him with a huge grin that soon faded into confusion, obviously not quite understanding the request. Harry was about to just tell him that it was alright, that he didn't need to just yet, but the toddler opened his mouth before he could.

 

"Yes. Dada!"

 

He squealed and wiggled around in Harry's lap so he could clap and laugh at himself for what he did. Harry had never been so proud of anything in his life like he was at that moment. He just had to hug his son again.

 

"Oh my God. I've missed you so much you have no idea, I'll never leave you again. I love you forever, I promise."

 

Thankfully he didn't miss what Jamie said next. It was something he'd never forget, ever.

 

"Dada. Love you."

 

If he hadn't been crying before, he sure as hell was now. He had prepared for the time when he met his son again and he had prepared for him not remembering him at all, but he wasn't prepared for this. He wasn't prepared for his son calling him dad and telling him that he loves him.

 

"Wish I could've recorded that. Never want to forget this moment. Not like I ever could, but it would be good to hear you say it over and over again like this."

 

"Already way ahead of you mate, the video just got saved to the cloud. And I'm pretty sure there's more videos of that same moment. You'll probably get to see it from all kinds of different angles."

 

Harry looked up at Niall first as he had been the one to speak, but then he looked around the room to see pretty much everyone who wasn't too young to have a phone was holding one. When he looked at Louis beside him, he could see him also holding a phone, he had probably recorded it from close by, getting the best sound out of everyone.

 

"Wow, thank you guys. It means a lot that you're all here even though I don't know over half of you yet, but having you hear sharing this with me is huge for me. Earlier this year I wouldn't even have thought I'd be inside for Christmas, let alone sitting in a room full of people. I'd like to thank you all for what you've done with Jamie while I was gone. He clearly loves all of you and it means a lot to me knowing that he's been well and happy. That's all I wanted for him because he deserves it."

 

"We wouldn't have dreamt of doing something else to him. He's a wonderful little guy and he deserves all the best, just like his dad. We all think they're both wonderful people."

 

He wasn't sure how to reply, too busy thinking about what to say without sounding stupid or ungrateful. Thankfully for him though, his own son interrupted everything when he yelled "food!" as loud as he could and wiggled out of Harry's lap so that he could run towards the kitchen as fast as he could. It was the first time Harry had seen him walk and he could see that this wasn't a moment he would forget either, as the phones in the room were yet again recording what was happening.

 

He could feel Louis' fingers on his arms and stroking it just like he had done to him not to long ago and he knew that it meant that they'd finish their conversation later, in private.  


	21. Chapter twenty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only three left after this! I'm actually really exited for you to read it!
> 
> Thanks to [Erin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolentEcstasy/profile) for betaing for me!

Everyone settle down to eat after Jamie had came running back into the living room with a banana in his hand. Danielle was behind him laughing and looked at Harry with a shrug.

 

"I tried to get him a plate of actual food since there are plenty of it, but he just pointed at the banana until I gave it to him. He seems to prefer bananas over everything else."

 

He stood up from the sofa and walked over to pick up Jamie who was munching on the banana happily.

 

"I used to buy bananas whenever I got the chance when we were living on the streets since it's one of my favourite foods and it's soft so it wouldn't be hard for him to eat either. It wasn't too often though, but I guess it was enough for him to take a liking to them."

 

Jamie had tried to offer Harry a piece of his banana, but Harry just shook his head and told him to eat it while he settled for a plate with everything he could fit on it.

 

While they ate, he got a chance to meet everyone and he was happy to hear that they had all bonded with Jamie in one way or another while he was gone. Jamie went around to everyone babbling about something nobody understood and when he figured out that they were all too busy eating instead of listening to him, he went to play along with the younger children who were there.

 

At some point Sandra had gone down to the car to pick up Harry's presents that were in there and when she came back, she settled Jamie's under the tree and came over to where everyone was sitting with the huge gift for the boys and Danielle in her arms.

 

"I know it's not Christmas Day yet, but I would like you to open this today anyway. I know what it is and let me tell you now, you'd be surprised when you see it. I really want Harry to see your reactions to them. It's for all of you."

 

The huge present was placed on the table that everyone had cleared up and they gathered around it.

 

"It's massive. What is it?"

 

They all looked over at Harry who was blushing and looking at them shyly.

 

"Uhm, I didn't know what to buy you guys because you practically have everything and it's not like you don't have the money to buy something you want, so I came up with that. I was originally going to pack it into individual presents to each of you, but it was too much work and I had already spent half a night finishing all of it, so it just became a massive present for you to share instead. And I won't tell you what it is, you'll have to open it. That's the whole meaning of a present."

 

They all laughed and looked over at the five people still just looking at the gift. Jamie had waddled back over to all of them and climbed onto Harry's lap so that he could see what was going on on top of the table.

 

They eventually started to open it up, all five of them tearing pieces of the wrapping and getting it open to find out what's inside. The huge box inside kind of revealed everything as Harry had asked Sandra for boxes from the café, but the boys didn't stop to process it before they had it open and looked inside.

 

The smell of baked goods immediately spread throughout the room and everyone gathered a little closer to look inside the box.

 

"Woah! Harry how did you get these? They look delicious. Do they make them in the café you work at? If so I think we'll need a new place to order from whenever we have a party."

 

Harry was pretty sure his face was getting redder and redder every second and he had to break eye contact so that he wouldn't be too shy to answer.

 

"I baked them, actually. I did say I spent half the night finishing all of it, didn't I? Some of them are just standard recipes; like the cookies are rather basic and some of the cupcakes are recipes I've created, while some of them are recipes that I've tweaked and customized."

 

Everybody just stared at him like he had grown another head before Niall came over to slap him on the back of his head.

 

"Harry Styles! You never told us you could bake! Would've made you done it more often if I knew."

 

He was already munching on one of the cookies and Harry could see that everyone else was gathering around to have some of it as well. Even Jamie had jumped down from his lap to run over to get some.

 

"I did tell you I worked at a bakery though. I thought that kind of told you that I could bake."

 

Once Jamie was satisfied with the cupcake he had grabbed, he came back to Harry's lap before he started to eat it.

 

"You did, but it doesn't necessarily mean that you can bake. Could've just been the cashier or something. I don't know, I just didn't assume you were a baker."

 

Harry was about to reply when a hand full of frosting hit him square over the mouth. Jamie's little hand was trying to feed it to him.

 

"Dada. Taste. Good!"

 

Everyone laughed and Niall bent down to pick the little boy up so he wouldn't get Harry all dirty.

 

"Yes little man, it's very good and your dad is one hell of a baker. Let's get you cleaned up though, before you make anything else dirty. Your dad's face may be easy to clean up, but the carpet would be a lot harder."

 

He walked to the kitchen to wash Jamie up and everyone else took the chance to compliment Harry on his work. When everyone was stuffed and started clearing up, Sandra sat down beside him.

 

"I think it's time we had that private talk?"

 

She motioned for Harry to follow her and he did until they stepped into the room at used to be his when he lived here. Nothing had been touched since he left. The bed was still rumpled and the clothes he had left behind were still where he left them. The only difference was that his phone and wallet were in the bedside table and Jamie's bed wasn't in there any more.

 

They both sat down on the little sofa in the corner and faced each other. Sandra didn't hesitate to talk.

 

"I know you probably have lots of questions and hopefully what I'm going to say will answer all of them without a word from you. Just let me say all I want to say before you say anything, okay? It's easier that way."

 

Harry could only nod as she took a deep breath and continued talking.

 

"First of all, I'm really glad you aren't mad at me for all of this. It was nervous you would take it the wrong way and be mad at me for setting you up or something, but I can see that you aren't and I know that I did the right thing in bringing you here today.

 

“I used to be an undercover cop, my speciality was working for cases like this; finding missing teens without scaring them into doing something stupid. I don't work for the police any more so this was just a favour to Liam and the boys. When Liam first called me, I could hear it in his voice that this was important so I said I'd do it. He thinks he's paying me, but I haven't touched the money he transferred and I'm not planning to either. He just didn't give me an option to not take the money when we had our first meeting.

 

“Anyway, I don't own the café you've been working at, neither do I own the flat we're living at, but I talked to both the owner of the café and the owner of the flat and they both agreed that you could continue working and have the flat if you'd still like to, so there's no need to worry about that.

 

“I want you to know that I didn't do this just to help the boys, I did this to help you too. When I first met you I could see how tired and broken you were, but when you eventually settled in and accepted my help more willingly you seemed more relaxed and happy. And even though you weren't completely happy because I know you missed Jamie and the boys, you didn't break. However you were still too broken for me to wait any longer. Or well, when I saw how miserable Louis was, he became a reason too. My original plan was to wait until your birthday to do this, have this be your surprise birthday party instead of Louis', but I think this worked out pretty well don't you?

 

“And Jamie remembers you! You've told me several times that you were scared that he wouldn't and he did remember, which I'm so happy about. I'm so happy for you, for Jamie, and for the boys that you're all back together again.

 

“Whatever you decide what to do after today, you still have your son and an incredible support group around you. I'll still be here as your best friend and you can come to me whenever you want. Just promise me that you won't run away again. Living on the streets is not for you and it's not worth the heartbreak you or everyone else got. We aren't Jamie's mum or your parents. We actually care about you and we'll do anything to protect you and Jamie. You'll be safe and you won't regret being back, I promise."

 

When she took another deep breath it was like she hadn't been breathing while she talked, Harry knew she was done speaking. He was pretty much lost on what to say, having just been listening and trying to process what was said. He wasn't mad at all about her bringing him here. Shocked and confused yes, but not mad. Why would he be? She was just trying to help. And he must admit that it was incredibly good to be back and to see everybody again. He had missed them a lot, especially Jamie and Louis.

 

"Thank you. This means so much to me and thank you is pretty much the only thing I can think of right now that would describe how I'm feeling. I know you were just trying to help and it worked, so thank you."

 

He knew he was repeating himself several times, but he couldn't help it; everything was just so overwhelming and thank you was the only thing he could say at this point. Sandra just laughed and leaned forward to hug him tight.

 

"You're more than welcome. Don't hesitate to come to me whenever you need something, I'll be right here to help you. Now I do believe there's several other people out that that would like to talk to you before this day is over and I'm pretty sure there's someone special out there who's waiting for his turn to talk with you. He's the birthday boy and yet he has to be the one who talks to you last. He's patient."

 

They both stood up from the sofa and Harry lead the way to the door, but before he reached it Sandra's voice stopped him.

 

"Oh and Harry? When you do have your private talk with the birthday boy; don't hold back. Tell him exactly what you feel and what you want, I'm sure he'll do the same. Today is not the time to hide anything from anyone."

 

She stepped around him and was out the door before he got the time to register what she told him. He was sure there was some kind of hidden meaning behind it, but he wasn't sure what it was yet. He guessed he'd figure it out eventually, hopefully before the talk.  


	22. Chapter twenty one

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost accidentally deleted this whole fic a few seconds ago. Good thing I noticed before I clicked confirm. I sometimes have a habit of doing that. 
> 
> Anyway, I hope you enjoy this. I get more and more exited the closer to the end this get. 
> 
> As always thanks to [Erin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolentEcstasy/profile) for betaing for me!

He got dragged back into the bedroom only fifteen minutes later by Liam and Danielle who didn't waste any time hugging him tightly as soon as the door closed. At some point Danielle started crying which triggered Harry's tears and he pulled her tighter against him. Liam joined into the hug seconds later, wrapping both of them into his arms.

 

For the first few minutes they had alone, the only words spoken were whispers of how much they missed each other and how good it was to see each other again. Danielle was the first one to pull away, struggling to get out of both Harry and Liam's arms. When she did, she looked at Harry and took a deep breath before she did something he didn't expect at all – she punched him on the arm.

 

Both the boys in the room were too shocked to react so Danielle took that moment to say what she had wanted to say.

 

"Don't you ever do that again! Do you have any idea how much you scared us? When I walked in here the first day, even Jamie understood what you were gone! Until we knew that Sandra knew she had found you, we were worried sick. We didn't even know if you were alive."

 

She flung herself at him once again and buried her face into his neck.

 

"I'm sorry. I just didn't want something to happen to Jamie. I thought it would be better if I wasn't around any more. He's safe with you."

 

This time it was Liam's turn to punch him.

 

"Jamie's safe with you too and I don't want to hear otherwise. Yes you've had a crappy life, but you're still one of the best dads I've ever seen. I know kids that have everything they could ever want by the time they're a year old, but their dads are shit.

 

“You might have not been able to give Jamie the life you imagined, but you gave him the best you could when everything else was against you. I'll bet you anything that if Jamie was able to fully understand everything that has happened, he'd be thanking you for what you've done for him.

 

“And even though you left him with us, you never gave up on him. You didn't think about yourself when you left, you thought of him and his safety instead. I would've admired that if it hadn't been for the fact that you can't see how great of a dad you are.

 

“I think even Jamie knows how great you are. He waited several months until he saw you again so that he could call you daddy."

 

Harry thought that was the first time he had heard Liam talk so much in one go that when he was done, he was in too much of a shock to answer straight away and apparently so was Danielle. Liam just frowned at them.

 

"What?"

 

Danielle chuckled and walked over to him so she could hug him.

 

"We've been dating for years now and this is the first time I've heard you talk this much. The only time you rant this much is when you're drunk and it's usually in a twit longer."

 

"Must mean a lot if you do it in person then."

 

They both looked up at Harry who were biting his bottom lip nervously.

 

"It does. Both you and Jamie are important to me and I want you both to be happy, which you won't be if you're not together – not fully at least. I don't care if you continue to live where you live and take Jamie with you or not, as long as you continue to see him and us everyday it doesn't matter."

 

They all huddled into a hug again and Harry couldn't help but think about everything that has been said again. He had no idea what to do when this day was over. Should he take Jamie with him back to his flat? Would that be fair to him and the boys? Should he ask if he could move back in? They wouldn't say no to that, right? His thoughts were interrupted by someone knocking on the door and Niall's voice came through it.

 

"Would you babies hurry up in there! There's more people wanting some alone time with Harry."

 

They all laughed as they pulled apart and silently decided that they should wait at least a minute before they went to open the door.

 

\---

 

"About freaking time!"

 

Niall jumped them as soon as they opened the door and pulled everyone into a group hug. Harry thought it was great being appreciated like this and he could definitely get used to it. They were missing two people though and he hoped it wouldn't be too long until they got a proper group hug with them as well.

 

Niall pulled away soon after everyone had gotten their share of the hug and pushed Liam and Danielle out the door.

 

"Off you go, you've already had your time with Harry, I'd say we should get our chance before he gets pulled away by someone else. Lottie's been eyeing him since she walked through the door, I'm pretty sure she has something to say once she gets the chance."

 

Harry had noticed that and even though he was sure it wasn't anything bad he felt a bit uneasy having her stare at him like that and apparently Zayn could see how he felt the second the door closed and they were facing him again.

 

"Don't worry mate; she's harmless. Don't know what she wants to talk about though, but I'm sure she just wants to get to know you. She had so many questions about you the first time we saw her after Louis had been there and introduced Jamie. Apparently she had been pretty disappointed that she hadn't known about you before."

 

Niall continued talking before Harry even got a chance to blink and answer.

 

"Anyway we're not here to talk about Lottie now and I know that you got the lecture about how much you scared us and not to do it again and blah blah blah so you won't hear any of that from us. We've got a lot to catch up on starting with – how the hell did you get into this building without being caught and how the hell did you disappear that fast? When I got to the door you were gone, like you haven't even been there. Even spoke to the door man later that day and they hadn't seen a single thing."

 

Harry smiled at them and wasn't surprised at all that they hadn't figured it out, he was pretty sure they hadn't ever used the back door since they either had guards outside making sure everything was clear before they left or left through the garage.

 

"I used to live here remember? I know the code to the back door – you guys gave it to me just in case. I also know that you all walk really slowly when it comes to opening the door and combine that with my awkwardly long legs it didn't take long to walk back out of the door. I could hear you open your front door before it properly closed behind me."

 

The boyfriends looked at each other before realisation showed up on their faces.

 

"Oh I remember now! Didn't think you'd use it though, nobody ever does and I mean nobody – not even the staff use that door. Don't know why, but I guess nobody had any purpose for it besides you and it'll probably come in handy if there's ever a fire in here. Should've probably thought of that though."

 

Niall chuckled and flung himself down onto the bed and motioned for his boyfriend and Harry to join him on it. Harry sat down on the edge of it, one foot in top so he could face the two who were resting against the headboard.

 

"Nah, I didn't expect you to think of it. If I did, I wouldn't have used it. If there's one thing I've learned whilst living on the street; be aware of your surroundings and frequently seen people. I learned to be observant of people I recognized just in case I only saw them all the time because they wanted to hurt us. That's what I did with you guys; I observed. I knew that you're slow to get the door, that the back door never got used and that you wouldn't even think if it at all when trying to figure out how I got in. I also know that you two like to just fuck with everybody in the house and that you aren't always having sex even though it sounds like it."

 

The blush he got from the both of them was enough to make him laugh before he continued.

 

"It's kind of the same way I observed Louis when he offered me a place to live back in the hospital, the only difference being that a lot of it was also based on trust as there wasn't a lot of time to observe before I had to answer. I trusted him to make both me and Jamie safe and he did."

 

"Wait, wait, wait, back up. How do you know about that?"

 

And just like that the serious conversation was over and for the first time in what felt like forever Harry laughed – _properly laughed_. It was a laugh he didn't realized he hadn't done in suck a long time. He threw his head back and just laughed until he was in tears.

 

"Oh come on! You thought I wouldn't notice? You may have Liam and Louis fooled, but not me. First of all, I've heard you having sex – I did sleep in this room after all, which is right next to yours – and you're not nearly as loud when _actually_ having sex. And remember when I said that I observe the people around me? Yeah, I know what you look like after you've had sex and it's not like you did when you were just being loud."

 

Niall leaned forward so that his elbows were resting on his knees and looked curiously at Harry; a small smirk on his face.

 

"How exactly do we look like after we've had sex?"

 

Zayn quickly caught on to what his boyfriend was asking and mirrored the position so that they were both looking at Harry with smirks on their faces.

 

"Oh no, I'm not going into that with you two."

 

He regretted saying anything about it, he was never getting out of it now.

 

"Oh come on! You've said so much, might as well continue."

 

He knew that he would never live it down if he told them, but to hell with it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before he spoke. He hoped nobody else got to hear about this.

 

"You both glow, okay? It's like something magical happened and you've just had the best sex you've had in your life every time. And it shows how much you love each other and how much you appreciate each other's body. It's not just about the sex with you, it's about making the other one feel good and it shows when you're done. And you're not overly possessive of each other either; none of you ever leaves any visible love bites or bruises because you know you belong to each other and that's good enough for you. You don't need to show everyone else that you love each other as long as the other one knows."

 

They didn't say anything for the longest time and Harry got nervous that he had said something completely wrong – that maybe they hadn't talked about love and all that and that Harry just scared them. The huge smile that appeared on both of their faces not too long after however told him otherwise and he was sure he wasn't going to like what came out of Niall's mouth next.

 

"Tell me Harry, did you only observe us or could you tell us how Liam and Danielle look like after they've had sex?"

 

Sure enough, he didn't like what he heard and he jumped off the bed and headed for the door to get out of the room as quickly as possible.

 

"Nope not going to happen, you have to figure that out yourselves if you absolutely have to know because I sure as hell don't want to tell you."

 

He was almost out of the door when he turned around and smirked at them.

 

"One thing I will tell you though; they're louder than you."

 

He disappeared before he could see their reactions.  


	23. Chapter twenty two (last chapter)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this is the last official chapter before the epilogue! Still can't believe that it's done. This is really huge for me. I was going to write something else here, but I changed my mind. I'll write it when the epilogue comes out! Hope you like it! 
> 
> Thanks to [Erin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolentEcstasy/profile) for betaing for me!

As expected; Lottie approached him not long after he returned back from the bedroom. What wasn't expected; all of Louis' sisters followed them and he once again got dragged back into it. It was like everyone had decided that it should be the room where all the talking happened without even actually saying so.

 

It was slightly awkward when he and Lottie got seated on the bed and the rest of them settled on the floor around them; it was obvious that Lottie would be the one talking for the most part.

 

Harry didn't know her or why she wanted to talk to him, so he decided to just sit there and wait until she started talking. He had no idea how long it took, but it was long enough before she eventually started.

 

"It's nice to finally meet you. I've been wanting to since the day Louis came by to visit with Jamie. Louis said so many nice things about you and the more he talked the more I wanted to meet you in person and I can't believe that I finally am. I know that you probably won't believe me when I say this; but you're amazing. Now Louis hasn't told me your whole story, but I know enough to know that at least.

 

“Not only are you seriously cute, but you're also an amazing person in general. I mean just by how you reacted today about everything says enough; you're not angry or sad that Sandra brought you here, but you're happy to see Jamie and the boys even though you weren't expecting to so soon.

 

“And then there's everything you've done for Jamie since he was born; you've done everything you can to protect him. Yes you may have left him, but it was what you believed was to be the right thing in order for him to be safe and in some ways I can see why. But you're back now and I know that you wouldn't even think of putting him, or anyone else for that matter, through all of this again."

 

She paused to push her hair back before she chuckled and continued.

 

"We thought you were dead at first when Louis told us that you weren't around any more and we were all so heartbroken thinking about little Jamie not having his dad there to see him grow up, but then Louis said that you weren't dead and it wasn't that bad any more. Sure you weren't there, but it was still a chance for you to come back and now you're here. It might not be willingly, but you're here now and that's all that matters.

 

“Louis cares so much about you -- they all do -- and to see him so happy is just incredible. He gets a lot of shit sometimes in the media, but you make him happy even though you don't know that yet.

 

“Then there's Jamie who never forgot that you were his dad and was waiting for you to come back before he called someone his dad and he did the right thing. He might just be two years old, but he's smart and I think he got that from you because you're smart as well.

 

“And lastly as I said, Louis cares a lot about you so please don't hurt him. I know you probably won't do it on purpose, but please just think extra hard about what you're going to do before you do anything. I know it's your decision in the end, but take some extra time to think it through. I know that if it was up to Louis, he would make you move back in here so that you wouldn't be apart from Jamie or take Jamie from them. But it's up to you. I just thought you should know that."

 

Harry took a minute to process everything and do what Lottie said; took some extra time to think before he said anything. The four sisters just sat patiently and waited for him to sort through his thoughts.

 

"I'm sorry for making you believe I was dead even though I technically didn't do anything to make you believe that I was. And I'm also sorry for putting you and everyone else through all of this; as you said I did what I thought was right for my baby boy. I still think it was the smartest thing for me to do and it turned out to be kind of right. I mean I got a job that I actually quite enjoy and that I get to keep even after all of this so I'll be able to make my own money and don't have to rely on anyone else. And I also have a flat that could be mine if I wanted it too and it's just to have that option if I decide to go that route -- which I haven't yet.

 

“And your brother is the amazing one; he's the only one to care enough to make sure I was okay and of course the boys did as well, but Louis was in the hospital that first day. I know he cares about me and I care a lot about him as well. He's the person I needed in my life even though I didn't know I did.

 

“I will take some time to think about everything before I go through with it from now on; just because you told me to and it means a lot to you that I do. I won't purposely hurt you or anyone else; I promise."

 

He finally properly released a big breath that he didn't know he needed and relaxed into the bed. It felt good to talk about it with them; he felt like they would understand it just a little better than everyone else.

 

Lottie didn't waste any time moving over on the bed to hug him and not long after the three people on the floor moved from their spot so that they could join the hug as well. It felt great and Harry was sure that he wouldn't enjoy regular hugs as much as he enjoyed group hugs. The amount of them he had had in the last two hours was enough to confirm that.

 

\---

 

Harry knew that the last private talk he was going to have that day so he didn't waste any time to walk over Louis and practically dragged him into the bedroom so they could get it over with. Louis didn't resist when he tugged on his wrist to get him to follow.

 

It was nice being around Louis again; out of all the people that he missed Louis was a close second on who he had missed the most -- Jamie being the first of course.

 

He wasn't sure what it was, but something had happened the first day they met and they just connected instantly and he knew he wasn't the only one feeling that way. He finally understood what Sandra had told him before she left the room earlier and he decided to do what she told him to do; he wasn't going to hold back and he didn't wait for Louis to be the first one to talk -- it was now or never.

 

"I think I might maybe possibly have feelings for you, might have had them since the first day in the hospital. I know it sounds crazy, but it's the truth. Everything you've done since before you even knew my name has been incredible and it's the most anyone has ever done for me in my entire life. I thought I had a great life before everything happened, but I can see how wrong I was because meeting you has made my life a hundred times better despite being gone from Jamie's life. What you've done with Jamie is amazing and I'm sure that if I hadn't been back right now you would have raised him to be just as good as you are.

 

“I thought that he might've called you daddy by now to be honest, didn't expect him to wait for me before he said it -- of course I didn't expect to be back so soon either. But anyway --"

 

He was unable to say any more as a body flung itself on him and a pair of lips were on his before he could even understand what was going on.

 

Louis was _kissing_ him. He was being _kissed_ by Louis Tomlinson. It felt absolutely amazing and he didn't want it to end so when Louis started to pull away he pulled him back in to kiss him even harder and more passionate than he had ever kissed anyone before. They didn't pull away from each other until they absolutely had to unless they wanted to faint because of lack of air.

 

Louis was the first one to speak up this time.

 

"I don't want to have a long boring talk like you've had with the rest of them. I think this said all that I wanted to say and I know that you'll understand that I feel the same way. Something happened when we met at the hospital and it only grew stronger when we were apart. I just hope that we don't have to be apart any more than we absolutely have to any more.”

 

He stood up on his tiptoes so that he could look Harry directly into his eyes and leaned in closer so that their lips were almost touching.

 

"Now, no more talking; we've got a lot to catch up on."

 

If they stayed longer than anyone else in the room and if anyone that walked passed the door couldn't hear them talking, nobody questioned it when they finally stepped out of the room with the biggest smiles any of them had ever had in the long time.


	24. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it.

"And here are the keys. All you need to do now is sign these and the place is yours." 

Harry accepted the papers that were given to him and he picked up the pen from the table so that he could sign them. 

He couldn't really believe that this was actually happening. Two years ago he didn't even know this place existed, but now it was his. He – Harry Styles – was becoming a cafè owner. 

A lot had happened in a the past two years and it had been the best years of Harry's life. After Louis' birthday he had decided to live alone for a while just to get his head cleared. Jamie had stayed with the boys since there wasn't much point to move him. Harry would visit everyday after work and eat dinner with the boys. He only ever used his flat for sleeping mostly and he moved in with them when he relalized how lonely it was without Sandra around. 

He kept his job at the bakery the whole time and he eventually he had to get his driver's license as Louis couldn't drive him to work all of the time. Louis went on a longer tour this time and was gone for nearly four months, with Harry and Jamie going to visit them for the last two weeks of it. Apparently a lot of the fans loved the two of them and they were practically treated like the other boys whenever they got noticed, but nothing bad happened. 

It was a lot harder to be away from Louis after they started dating and if it hadn't been for Sandra and Jamie, Harry would've probably broke at some point, It all turned out alright. They talked every chance they got and they kept each other updated; Louis with pictures of the boys and the tour in general and Harry with pictures of Jamie who had now learned to properly talk and boy, he talked a lot. Louis said that he talks like his dad; low and slow. 

When Louis finally got home from tour all five of them and Danielle had an discussion one night and they decided on getting their own flats since it would be much more convenient for all of them; all five of them plus a toddler got a bit too much at times. They didn't move far away from each other though; they all got a flat in the same complex so it wasn't that different from living together except they had a bigger space to their own. Danielle moved in with Liam when he got a new flat as well. 

Sandra was still Harry's best friend and whenever Harry needed someone to watch Jamie, she would be on their doorstep not long after and she came over every Sunday for their mandatory dinners together. 

Lottie would also pop up from time to time saying that they didn't invite her often enough so that she could hang out with her favourite (and only) nephew so she just had to come unannouced (but not really, Jay would text them if she came). And yes since Jamie had started to speak almost perfectly, he had somehow started calling Louis dad and it sort of just became a thing that everybody just ran with. When Jay had heard him say that the first time she had cried and said that she never actually thought he'd be a grandmother this quickly and all of Louis' sisters were so happy that they became aunts. It was a strange night of lots of crying and contests of who would be the favourite aunt. Jamie didn't really understand what was going on, but he played along with all of their little games. When they had to leave he hadn't actually picked anyone, but Lottie decided that she was the winner anyway. 

Everything just kept going up as time went; Harry passed his driver's test on the first try, Jamie started going to daycare, Louis played a couple of charity football matches, the boys won several awards and a lot of other things that would take days for Harry to even list if anyone asked.

It all lead back to the present though and the fact that he was now an cafè owner. 

He wasn't sure how exactly it had happened to be completely honest. Sandra had decided to introduce Harry and the owner not long after Christmas and Harry had immediately recognized him. He was one of the regular costumers, the one who had stopped him from leaving the first day and also the one who had given him the paper with the article about Jamie's birthday. 

His name was Victor and he was very impressed by Harry's work, which he pointed out to Harry when they first met. Not much longer after that Harry had been promoted to the manager -- the first manager the place had ever had. 

Harry would have never expected this though, but when Victor came to him just a few weeks prior and told him that he thought it was time to retire Harry immediately thought he was being let go -- that they new owners wanted to do something else with the place. When he heard that Victor wanted to give the place to him, he was in too much shock to answer right away. But he quickly recovered and accepted the offer. 

The second Victor had left to sort everything out, he had called Louis (who had gone on another tour) and told him the news. The scream from Louis' end could probably be heard through the walls of the entire hotel. 

Louis came back just in time for Harry to have his final meeting with Victor and when Harry signed the final piece of paper, Louis was standing right behind him with a supportive hand on his lower back and his cheek rested on Harry's shoulder -- he had to stand on his toes to be able to do that. 

"I told you that you'll become something special someday."

Harry couldn't be any happier than that exact moment and he moved so that he was able to look Louis in the eyes and kiss him. 

"And you're right here with me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’d like to thank everyone who’s been reading and liking this. Thanks to all of you who’s been sticking around from the beginning and everyone else who had to wait ages for me to update this. I still can’t believe that this is actually done. This is the second One Direction chaptered fic I started (third 1D fic written) and I started this around three years ago. Of course this has been up and down a few times and I’ve re-written and edited it a couple of times throughout, but this is the final product. It’s done and I don’t want to mess with it anymore. 
> 
> Next up on my writing plan is to re-write and edit a zarry series. It contains a five chapterd fic and five connected oneshots. This will hopefully not take too long to do and it’ll be out very soon. Subscribe to me (or follow me on [tumblr](http://shaggingtomlinson.tumblr.com/) if you’d like to keep updated on that. I also have a “writing” section in my sidebar of you’d like to see what I’m working on. I have also thought about starting up a twitter dedicated to just posting updates on my fics and stuff (anything fanfic related basically), so if anyone would prefer that let me know and I’d do it. 
> 
> And lastly I’d like to thank my to betas, Tara* who betaed the first 15 chapters and [Erin](http://archiveofourown.org/users/ViolentEcstasy/profile) who’s been betaed the last nine chapters. They’ve been great help to me and I appreciate all the help they’ve given me. 
> 
> Again, thank you to all of you who’s supported me trough this and I hope you’ll read my other stuff as well. 
> 
> \- Karina
> 
> (* I’ve unfortunately forgotten/lost Tara’s ao3 username so I can’t link her even though I really want to).
> 
> Oh and also if you haven't already noticed this fic is currently being published in [polish](http://archiveofourown.org/works/1181697/chapters/2410238). Not sure if you'd actually want to read it if you've completed reading the whole thing in English, but if you do or you'd like to recommend this to someone who prefer polish to English you're more than welcome to.
> 
> Adding on days later: I went ahead and made a twitter. I originally just wanted to test and see if the username I wanted was available and it was (sort of) so I just made it. I haven't tweeted anything yet, because I wanted to see if I get any followers. If I don't, I'll probably just delete it. You can follow me [here](https://twitter.com/shagtomlinson). I will mostly use it for my fics, what I'm working on, when I'm updating and so on. But also to talk about fanfics in general.


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